Not Your Superhero
by Crypticshadowy
Summary: Riley was the experiment that got away, and now she's changed forever, and being a hero is the last thing on her mind until she reluctantly becomes one. MCU - Age of Ultron plot. All Avengers included. Contains explicit language.
1. Chapter 1

Riley walked out of the bar with the burning feeling of whiskey still lingering on her lips, lighting a cigarette for her journey home as she looked around the busy street. It was three in the morning on a bustling Saturday in New York, and Riley could still feel the buzz she had been maintaining all evening. Her arms began swaying as she began her walk down the street, humming to herself. There was nothing like the feeling of being outside your own mind, and every night Riley searched for that feeling. Escaping a reality she was forever stuck with.

"Hey sweetheart, how 'bout keepin' me company tonight huh? It's real cold out,"

Riley rolled her eyes at the man sitting on his apartment steps, taking a drag of her cigarette before pulling it from her lips.

"You couldn't handle it Shakespeare," she called back, continuing past.

People were spilling out of bars and clubs all around the city, filling the streets on their way to the next stop. At three in the morning, people were either finishing their day or just beginning it, and for Riley it was a mix of both. Working at a bar meant she lived almost nocturnally, and that was just what she wanted.

The events of the last few years had turned Riley away from society, and if she could live in the middle of nowhere and never see a single soul again, she would. But instead she found herself living in one of the busiest cities in the world, making enough money to live day-to-day, and wasting away every spare moment she had. People like Riley didn't get normal lives, and if they slipped up, they became hunted.

Living under the radar was their only option.

As Riley continued down the streets, she threw the butt of her cigarette onto the pavement and walked over it with her boots, sliding both hands into the pockets of her jacket. It was cold out tonight, winter finally beginning to make an appearance, and Riley could feel the chill against her skin.

"Hey, watch it asshole!" she called out, her body jolted by the man who had barged into her as he walked by.

The man turned around to Riley's words, his girlfriend stopping by his side and shaking her head for him to keep walking.

"What'd you just call me?" he asked.

Riley stopped walked, turning to look back at him with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You heard me, but I'd be happy to repeat it, _asshole_."

The man glared over at her.

"Pete, c'mon, just ignore it," the girlfriend pleaded. "C'mon! Don't start a fucking fight over this shit!"

"Is that what you want? Are you looking for one, Pete?" Riley taunted.

The man clenched his hands into fists and shook his head angrily, kicking a piece of trash on the sidewalk. Riley stared back at him with a small smirk, watching as his girlfriend finally coaxed him into turning away and continuing on. It was no wonder she didn't want to join this society.

As Riley also turned away to walk the next few blocks home, her ears pricked at the sound of the man angrily snapping at his girlfriend.

"Don't fucking cut in and tell me to back off, alright? Do _not_ do that again, you hear me? I don't need two bitches on a sidewalk in my face."

With each word the man spoke, Riley could feel her own anger rising. He was far from a gentleman, that much she knew already, but now he was proving himself to be an abusive jackass to not only strangers, but his own girlfriend.

"You can't start a fight with every person who says shit you don't like!" the woman argued.

Riley turned back toward them as she heard a small pause in their argument, unable to see the couple.

This wasn't her business. This wasn't her problem. Bad people existed everywhere, they hurt people everyday, this was just life. Everything was running it's course. It was none of her business.

"Fuck," Riley groaned, her hands balling into fists as she walked back to where she last saw the couple.

This had nothing to do with her, and yet here she was pushing her way into a situation she could have easily ignored.

As she made it up the pavement, she could hear muffled cursing from the small alley behind a row of apartment buildings. With only the streetlights guiding her, Riley marched into the alley and listened closely for their voices again.

"You gonna talk back to me again?" the man spat. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to like that, huh?"

Riley found the couple moments later, the woman pinned against the brick wall with Pete's hand against her neck. She walked up behind the man, watching at the woman's eyes widened at the sight of her, causing Pete to turn in search of their audience.

"What the f-"

Riley grabbed the man by this throat before he could finish his sentence, pulling him away from the woman and throwing him to the ground. The woman let out a loud gasp, desperately trying to catch her breath. Riley watched her clutch her throat carefully, still feeling the man's hands on her skin, as she looked back in fear.

"Get out of here," Riley told her. "Now!"

"Don't hurt him!" the woman yelled.

"Are you kidding me?" Riley grit her teeth, mumbling to herself before she looked back at the woman more seriously. "If you don't start running now, I'll throw you into the street myself, now _go_ ,"

The woman grabbed her bag and ran out from the alley a moment later, leaving her boyfriend groaning and pulling himself up on the concrete. Riley turned back to him, watching him struggle to stand up.

"Is that how you treat all your lucky ladies?" Riley asked, folding her arms.

"I know where you work," he panted. "I've seen you at _Benny's._ You got no idea the enemy you just made you stupid bitch,"

Riley stared back at the man with an amused grin.

"Aw, are you trying to threaten me Pete?" she teased. "We don't have to make a date of it, let's just get it over with now, shall we?"

Pete's hands balled into fists as he began to charge forward, but Riley put her hand up in defence, stopping him where he was. Suddenly, Pete's hands hung down beside his body as he was lifted off his feet, his throat once again being gripped. But this time Riley didn't touch him. Pete stared at her in horror, trying to reach for whatever was around his throat. It felt like a hand, digging into his skin, but Riley's hand was only pointed at him.

It was then that he noticed the woman's eyes. They were glowing orange, as if there was a fire raging behind them. Soon enough his back hit the brick wall again, and this time he could feel that this woman was not human. He could feel the thick energy hitting against him, emitting from her body, rendering him motionless. The wall behind him began to vibrate as he was pushed back, cracks beginning to form in the concrete.

The back of his hand was pushing into the bricks now, breaking the material under his skull.

"Arghh!" he screamed. "Stop! Stop!"

Riley just stared back at him with her furious eyes, stepping closer as she lowered her hand, watching his feet land back on the ground.

"You think you can just treat women like they owe you something, like you're a fucking God?" she snarled.

Pete's head was still pressed hard against the bricks behind him, and his breath was coming out in hurried, terrified pants.

"No, no, no, I don't," he pleaded.

"I can do a lot more than this asshole, and I know you now. If you ever touch anyone like that again, if you think you can push girls around like they're your own personal slaves, I _will_ show up and it _will_ hurt, got it?"

"Y-yeah, yeah I get it!" he cried.

"Same goes for if you speak a word of this to anyone. I've got a good ear, and I'll know. You won't show your face at _Benny's_ again, and if I see you around, it better be walking the other way. Deal?"

Pete gasped for air, nodding his head. Riley let him go a moment later, watching him lean forward and heave against his knees. A few moments passed before her eyes faded back to their usual brown colour, and she turned to see a small crowd of people standing by the alley's entrance.

"Fuck," Riley groaned, looking around for another exit.

The faces that stared back at her were all wide and afraid, but they couldn't look away. She couldn't blame them either. But here in the shadows, she was hidden, they couldn't see her face. And she wasn't about to let them.

Riley stepped back further into the alley, reaching down to put her hands against the concrete. The ground began to shake as she pushed back against it, feeling her feet shoot up into the night's cold air, and then she was gone.

* * *

Almost a month had passed since Riley's run-in with Pete, and she had all but forgotten about the man and the fear she struck in him. For the first week, she had watched the man, made sure he didn't act like a jackass and take it out on his girlfriend, and made sure he didn't say a word about it to anyone. Riley had people find her before, and it was always a hassle shaking them off. But fear seemed to be the most effective.

Especially when she threatened them angry, when her eyes were glowing and her hold on the person was stronger than anything they had ever felt before. Fear was best.

"Remember to lock the back door when you take the trash out," Benny reminded, picking up his keys. "And I counted those bottles too, so don't think about taking one for the road, alright?"

Riley rolled her eyes, pulling out the cash drawer to count and close up for the night.

"Aye aye," she nodded, turning to him with a sigh. "I guess I'll walk home sober,"

"A refreshing change, I'll bet," he chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight."

"Night," Riley called back, listening for the door to close behind him.

Once she heard the thud, she pulled a bar stool over to sit on behind the bench as she began to count the night's takings, then stuck a cigarette between her lips and lit it with a long sigh of relief. It was closing in on five in the morning and Riley was finally feeling tired, and all that was on her mind now was getting back to her tiny apartment and sleeping away the day.

Just as she began to pull out the note and count, she heard the door of the bar open. Peaking over the bench, she could see the back of a man standing there, looking around as if he was inspecting the place.

"We're closed," she called out, shaking her head in annoyance as she took another drag from her cigarette. "If you can't read,"

"Yeah, can see that," the man called back, walking over to the bar now. "Thought we might have a better chat with everyone gone,"

Riley had her cigarette dangling between her lips as she looked up at the man approaching, her heart beating wildly with surprise. There was no mistaking the goatee and the expensive suit. Tony Stark was standing in front of her, in the middle of the dimly lit run-down bar.

The man who paraded around on television as the hero the whole world needed. The wealthy, privileged man who took that to the next level and built himself his own person weapon that made him Iron Man. While people in the streets and cities all around the world suffered, Tony Stark and The Avengers had their names plastered over the front pages as they saved the world again from defeat.

It wasn't that Riley hated them, it was that she strongly disliked everything they stood for. They had abilities and advantages that anyone else would be hunted for, and yet the world worshipped them for it. But it was a changing world, and people were beginning to take a stand against them and for all the lives they cost, and Riley counted herself as one of those people.

"Think you took a wrong turn somewhere," Riley told him, hiding any sign of intimidation or concern. "And again, _closed_."

After all, she had no idea what Tony Stark was doing here, and something told her she didn't want to know.

"You're about as pleasant as everyone's told me you'd be," he muttered, sliding onto the bar stool opposite her.

Riley's eyes flickered up to him, staring for a moment before she reached up and took the cigarette from her lips, blowing smoke directly over to him. She watched carefully as he stared back at her, ignoring the grey cloud that surrounded him now.

"And you're about as arrogant and I've heard," she bit back. "Can you skip the bullshit and get to the point?"

Tony reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small tablet, turning it on and sitting it down on the bar in front of her. It played a video, one that made Riley's skin crawl with anger and worry. She could see the glowing orange eyes, the shattering concrete and cracking bricks, and the look of fear on everyone's faces.

Riley's eyes flickered back up to Tony who was watching her carefully, and she did her best to cover any sign of panic. Instead she lifted the cigarette back to her lips and shrugged her shoulders.

"What? Don't like that one? There's plenty more," Tony pressed. "You're either terrible at this vigilante thing or you don't mind being followed,"

"I don't know what you've come here looking for, but you're in the wrong place," Riley bit back, pressing the cigarette down against the bar and listening to the ash hiss.

Tony stared back at the woman, pulling his glasses off and tossing them on top of the tablet that remained on the bar. The video replayed over and over again, barely in Riley's line of sight, but she couldn't help how angry it was making her.

"I'll give you this, it wasn't easy tracking you down," Tony sighed. "You've got not family, no friends, no connections. All we had were people who saw you on your little benders there before you shoot yourself off into the sky. How _do_ you do that by the way?"

Tony Stark seemed like he would be difficult to convince about the video, and her act would only get her so far. But he had been tracking her down, and he wasn't alone.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but you're starting to really piss me off," Riley warned.

"Am I?" he taunted. "Show me. Take a swing,"

Riley smirked, imagining doing just that. Her fist colliding with Tony's jaw, knocking him back onto the filthy bar floor and watching him writhe around in pain and confusion. But that was playing right into his plan.

"I don't know what you _think_ I am or who I am-"

"I don't know _what_ you are, and I doubt you do either," Tony cut in. "But I do know _who_ you are. Riley Elliot, twenty three year old NYU drop-out, you majored in mathematics and analytics, didn't you? Went missing in 2013 while you were on semester break in Europe, mysteriously reappeared at the end of last year,"

Riley felt her hands clenching to form fists, her nails digging deep into her skin. Blood was pooling in her mouth from where she bit the inside of her lip, staring over at Tony Stark who knew he was hitting the girl's nerves.

"Seems a little below your pay grade to do a background check on a missing person," Riley muttered, glaring over at him. "Especially when they're no longer missing,"

"Not when they come back like you," he shook his head.

Staring back at him, Riley could feel her eyes beginning to burn, a sign that she her adrenaline was beginning to rush to a level she didn't want to be on. She looked away from him, blinking a few times, her eyes settling on a small bottle of scotch beneath the bar. She reached down and screwed the cap off, lifting it to her lips with a shaky hand, her chest heaving slightly.

Riley could feel the man's eyes on her, not saying a word, as she sat the bottle down and closed her eyes for a moment. It wasn't easy to calm herself down anymore, not with everything that was going on inside.

"What do you want?" she asked, shaking her head.

Tony stared back at her, realising she wasn't going to argue anymore.

"Strucker," he told her simply. "Got a feeling you'll know where to find him,"

Riley could feel her stomach twist into knots at just the mention of that man's name. The man behind all of the memories and horrors that filled her mind every single day, that haunted her dreams, that gave her this life she had to live today.

"We know about his experiments," Tony continued. "Most didn't survive, but _you_ did. That's where you were, isn't it? Strucker had you."

Tony could see her breathing begin to spiral as he made her think about the man, and he started to see the scared girl that was behind the tough exterior she put up. She was just a kid, starting out her life and trying to be better, but Strucker took all that from her and made her into whatever she was now.

But this time Riley couldn't stop the adrenaline, she couldn't stop the rise and rise of her pulse. Tony sat back at the sight of her eyes fading from brown to orange, then glowing bright like a flame. Pushing her hand out, the bar broke to pieces in front of her, crumbling to a pile of wood as she looked to Tony. he was scrambling on his feet now, stepping back to the wall, trying to calm her. He could feel the pressure of the energy wave that came from her body, and he did not want to be sucked into it.

"Hey, we're not gonna hurt you-"

And then Riley's body hit the floor with a thud, a tranquilliser dart sticking out of her neck.

Tony whipped his head to the side, seeing the red-haired assassin standing off to the side with the gun still aimed toward the girl.

"I had that," Tony told her, his breathing slightly off with his panic.

"I gave you eight minutes," Natasha reminded. "It would have been easier to start with this,"

"She would have talked,"

"After she kicked your ass?" Natasha smirked.

"I had my suit," he argued, pointing at his wrist watch.

Looking over the the now unconscious girl, Natasha put the gun away and sighed.

"Not sure that would have helped you,"

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this first chapters guys! Please do leave a review for me xx_


	2. Chapter 2

Riley felt like she was nursing the world's biggest hangover when her eyes were finally pried open by the light in the room. Her head was aching, her neck was stinging, and she could feel the heavy restraints behind her back. The room was small, a small table in the middle with screens built inside, and the walls were made of thick glass. For a moment she thought she might have been at a police station, and she wouldn't be surprised considering the last thing she remembered was crumbling the bar to pieces.

But soon enough the door behind her opened, and Natasha Romanoff walked in without a single fleck of intimidation or fear of the girl sitting in the chair.

"You've got to be kidding," Riley groaned, shaking her head. "You _fucking_ assholes,"

"No need for introductions then, I assume." Natasha shrugged.

"Don't you all have something more important to be doing? Somewhere you can all fly off to in your costumes?"

"We need a destination to fly off to first, which is why you're here," Natasha explained. "We need the location of Strucker's base."

Riley stared at the woman and shook her head, tapping her foot.

"That's why you've got me in here?" she asked, looking around.

"We're not going to hurt you-"

"Explain why it feels like I got shot in the neck then," Riley countered.

Natasha folded her arms, sighing.

"You were losing control,"

"You haven't seen me lose control," Riley scoffed. "But keep pushing and you might,"

On the other side of the glass, Tony stood with Steve, Bruce and Clint by his side, watching the whole conversation pan out. They were all prepared to step in if anything happened, but none of them considered themselves a match for the girl.

"You said she agreed to come in," Steve shook his head.

"I said she _would_ have agreed," Tony corrected. "Eventually."

"We don't take prisoners, Tony." he continued.

"She's not a prisoner," he denied.

They turned all of their attention back to the situation in front of them, waiting for Natasha to get the information they needed. But Riley was being far from cooperative with the assassin, too frustrated to provide anything she needed.

Natasha turned to the table, pressing a few buttons on the screen and pulling up some holograms to show. Riley watched the first image pop up, her stomach dropping at the sight of Strucker himself. A face she had been trying to forget, but one that she would never.

Natasha could see her anger rising at the image.

"I know you want this man captured," Natasha pressed. "So help us find him,"

Riley's body was trembling as she stared up at the man's image, forcing her eyes to look away and close. She had to control herself, she had to stay cool and calm, or they would go on forever.

"Where's Stark?" Riley asked, still squeezing her eyes closed.

Natasha's glance flickered up to the men standing outside, watching as Tony shot her an equally confused look and shrugged his shoulders.

"Stark?"

"I'll...I want to talk to him,"

Natasha once again looked back over to Tony, just as Clint and Steve did also. Tony just shrugged again in confusion, nodding toward Natasha and gesturing for them to swap. Without questioning, Natasha walked out of the room and stepped out to her teammates.

"Huh, Widow can't crack her?" Tony teased, a grin on his lips. "Who'd have thought I'd have to step in?"

"Maybe she wants a second chance at kicking your ass," Clint suggested.

Natasha smirked at his words, folding her arms once more and watching as Tony made his way into the room. Steve hadn't said a word, watching it all play out. He had already made it clear he wasn't on board with holding the girl here, but if she was willing to talk and give them more information not only on Strucker's whereabouts but his experiments too, then he would deal with the bad feeling he had about the whole thing.

Tony closed the door behind him as he stepped inside, slowly making his way in front of Riley, leaning back on the table.

"Why am I here?" she asked him, looking toward the floor just in front of her feet.

"We just want some information," he assured. "We're not the threat, okay?"

"Do you know how long it took to try and get a life after all that shit?" she asked. "You came in and it's all fucking gone now. I liked my job. It didn't pay well and I dealt with some real pieces of shit, but it was _mine_ , and it took me a long time to get to the point where I could go outside and not freak out let alone work. And..."

Tony frowned at her words, watching as she tried to control her breathing. Her arms tried to move forward as if she had forgotten about the restraints, and with no effort at all, Riley broke them apart. The metal hit the floor with a loud clinking sound, and Tony tried to remain calm, ignoring the fact they were triple reinforced strength. But Riley made them look like they were made of paper.

"I'm not...I'm not going to..." she assured, shaking her head as she leaned forward to rest her head against them. "I'm just fucking _angry_ ,"

"So be angry," Tony pushed. "Let it out,"

"You don't want that," she shook her head. "But... _fuck_! You all just...you just...that was _my_ life! You can't just take whoever you want to get answers, you can't just come into someone's life and fuck it up like that! We can't all live out of the shadows like you fuckers!"

"It wasn't meant to go like that," he told her honestly. "We didn't know what your control was over all of this, we don't know what you can do-"

"You don't _need_ to know! This isn't your life! You and your idiot superhero buddies aren't the world's highest authority, you know? I don't owe any of you shit,"

Tony knew that she was right, all her words were right. They had no right, and yet here she was.

"You're the only survivor of these experiments that we know of," Tony explained. "But they haven't stopped. HYDRA won't stop, until _we_ stop them. We need to know where Strucker's hiding and how to get to him so this doesn't keep happening."

"Yeah? Well it already happened," Riley scoffed. "Who showed up to stop him when he had me and ten others strapped on tables with needles going all over our bodies, serums being pumped through our veins like we were human guinea pigs? Where were all of Earth's Mightiest Heroes then, huh?"

Tony stared over at her, guilt creeping up and filling him. Maybe that wasn't fair, but Riley had a right to be angry about that. Strucker's experiments were being designed to take down whoever stood against HYDRA, to be their weapons, and Riley was created to take down the very people she was stuck in this tower with.

None of them could blame her for her hostility, especially since they now felt more horrible than ever about the whole situation.

Riley looked up, met with the image of Strucker once again. She bit down on her lips, turning her gaze to Tony.

"Can you get that out of my face?" she asked, seething with anger.

Tony turned to the table and moved his fingers against the glass pads, making the hologram vanish.

"What do you want with Strucker?" she asked. "It's more than stopping the experiments,"

"Yeah, it is," Tony told her honestly, folding his arms. "He's got something we want. At least, we _think_ he's got it. Would help if you could tell us anything."

"The big, blue, glowing stick. Right?"

Steve, Clint and Natasha watched on closely, listening intently. This is what they had been searching for for so long, and this is the closest they had been.

"Right," Tony nodded, encouraging her to continue. "Strucker has it?"

Riley scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, he has it. How do you think he's been running these experiments? Where do you think he's getting all the shit for them? The shit he put into us, had to come from somewhere powerful," she told him.

"We don't know the extent of his experiments," Tony assured. "We don't know what he's doing, all we know is people are dying."

"If you know all that, then how don't you know where he is?" Riley questioned.

"We know he's in Europe. Last intel suggested Sokovia,"

"Then your last intel is right," she confirmed.

Tony looked out the glass walls to see Natasha already picking up her phone and making a call. They were moving out as soon as they got the exact location, and Riley seemed to be providing that now that her anger had subsided slightly.

"You're going to take him in?" she asked.

"NATO will take him once we find him," Tony explained. "He's not what we're after."

"Well you'll have your hands full. It's not like he's hold up in a run down apartment somewhere," she shook her head. "He's in a Fortress, just outside Novi Grad. It's basically a castle, and he's got it guarded like one too."

"How'd you get out?" Tony asked, unable to stop himself.

Riley shrugged, shaking her head. That was another memory she would rather forget.

"Mix of luck and timing," she sighed.

Tony watched as she hung her head low, looking down at her feet once again. It was clear there were many memories she would rather now revisit, and Tony could see. that bringing her in here made her relive all of it over again, forcing her to face something she had been running from.

"We're gonna shut it all down," Tony promised. "Everything."

Riley stared back at him, her anger once again rising. Tony could see the colour of her eyes changing, but with a few blinks and a deep breath, they remained their hazel brown colour.

"When are you going?" she asked.

"Once the team's ready, we're out." Tony nodded.

"No plan?"

"We'll figure that out on the way. We've waited too long already," he explained.

Riley watched him, looking around to see said team scrambling outside the glass walls that surrounded her.

"You guys sure are taking my word on this, huh?"

"Figured you'd want him captured as much as we do," Tony shrugged.

"I'll bet I'd want that a little more than you," she countered.

"Can't argue with that," Tony grinned lightly. "We _will_ get him."

Riley nodded, leaning back into the chair. Tony could see her thinking, her mind far away from this room right now.

"I can take care of your job, I can fix all that." Tony assured. "I'll take you back-"

"I want to go," she cut in, looking up at him. "To Sokovia, to Strucker."

There was a moment of silence in the room, and Tony could see all of the heads outside turn in their direction, still listening in. None of them had expected her to want that, and they immediately starting thinking of all the problems that would arise if she accompany them.

"We don't...we work better just the six of us," Tony explained awkwardly.

Riley rolled her eyes.

"Not as a member of your fucking spandex circus," she shook her head. "I don't care what you all do when you get there, I just need a ride."

Tony eyed her cautiously.

"Why do you want to go back there?" he asked. "You can't even stand looking at the guy,"

"I'm not going back for him."

"Then why?"

Riley sighed and rubbed her eyes. She had been awake for far too long, and being hit with a tranquilliser drug did nothing to ease her exhaustion, only making it worse. Maybe this was a decision that needed more time, but she didn't have that luxury. They were leaving soon, and this was Riley's only chance. It wasn't like she could afford a flight to Sokovia, not that flights were even running there.

They were in the middle of a rebellion, and the streets were far too dangerous to open the airport. This was the easiest way, and after so long wondering, she needed to go back. If Tony was telling the truth, if they were finally going to take down Strucker and his operation, this would be her last chance.

Any other day she would have rather die than go back.

"You owe me this," Riley countered.

"If you think we're taking you there with no questions, you're an idiot," Tony argued.

Riley was about to bite back when Natasha pushed the door open, stepping inside and looking between the two of them.

"Target location's confirmed. Clint's getting the jet ready," she told him. "Wheels up in ten."

The red-haired woman left as soon as she finished her announcement, leaving Tony and Riley to get back to the bickering they were in the middle of. Riley had ten minutes to convince Tony.

"Strucker took volunteers for the experiments, did you know that?" Riley asked. "Willing participants. People who would do anything to get some power, they didn't even care what it was. But I wasn't a volunteer, and neither was my best friend, and that's always confused me. We were just wandering around the market. He had people lining up to be stabbed and prodded, but he still took people from the goddamn streets."

"He just took you and your friend?" Tony asked, leaning back onto the table, not worrying about his ten minute warning to be ready.

"No," she shook her head, running her fingers through her hair as she took a deep breath. "I think he took tourists. Everyone had different languages and accents, I don't...I don't remember much about them. I just know not everyone was a volunteer. We had to...they tied you down, if you weren't willing."

Tony frowned as he listened.

"Did your friend make it through? The...the experiments, I mean."

Riley shrugged her shoulders, looking up at him.

"I don't know,"

Then it all started to make sense.

"They're still there, aren't they? You want to find them?"

"The last time I saw her, I'd just come out of..." she trailed off, closing her eyes again and steadying her breathing. "She was being taken to the labs. I didn't see her again. I know she's probably dead, most of them are, but if she isn't...I need to get her out."

Tony sighed, understanding why Riley wanted to get to Sokovia. She didn't care about facing Strucker, she already knew he was being taken in and she would rather him live and suffer than die quick and painless. She wanted to go back for her friend, and that Tony could understand.

"You know if you come with us, there's a chance NATO will want to take you in too." Tony warned. "And it's not just them. There are groups out there that look for people like you."

"I don't care," she shook her head. "I've been running ever since I left that place, it's nothing new to me."

* * *

As the back of the jet closed, sealing them all inside for their journey, it suddenly became very obvious that there were one too many people on board. Tony had briefed the team about Riley joining their flight to Sokovia, and although they all sympathised with her reasoning, it did nothing to ease their concerns. There was so much they didn't know about this girl, and she was more powerful than all of them combined. All it took was a rise in her temper and it would be over for them all.

Natasha had offered some protective clothing, but Riley insisted she stick with her own black jeans, black top and navy jacket. She still wore her black combat boots that were meant for work, stained with cigarette ash and smelling faintly of beer and whiskey. But the last thing on her mind was her clothing choices.

"She says the Scepter is there," Steve informed Thor, both standing over by the pilot bay while Riley laid down in the furthest corner.

"Do you trust her?" he asked.

Steve looked back to Tony who could feel the super soldier's eyes digging into him.

"Doesn't have a reason to lie, does she?" Tony shrugged.

"Unless she's part of Strucker's plan," Steve offered.

Tony let Clint take control as he turned in his seat, eyes moving from the beautiful sky ahead to the two tall blonde men before him. They towered over him as he sat, and yet Tony felt now intimidation. These were his teammates, and they trusted one another. Which also meant if this all went wrong, this one would be on Tony.

"You saw her when she looked at Strucker's face," Tony reminded. "It wasn't a look of loyalty Steve, it was hate."

"And she's made it pretty clear she hates us too." Natasha added, listening in to the conversation.

"I doubt we'd all be sitting here still breathing if she hated us that much." Clint cut in.

"Well if we're her way into Sokovia, it wouldn't make sense for her. to hurt us," Bruce shrugged. "At least...not until we got there."

"My concern exactly." Steve sighed.

"You think she will turn on us when we arrive?" Thor asked.

They all looked at one another during a moment of silence, all thinking the same thing. This girl couldn't be trusted, and although the location of Strucker's fortress had been confirmed on satellite and they knew she had told the truth, she had no reason to be loyal to them.

"She's using us for transport," Tony shook his head. "That's it."

"I don't understand why she wouldn't want to take this guy down as soon as we land," Clint spoke. "If she's telling the truth, if she wasn't a volunteer for his experiments, wouldn't that be the first thing of her mind?"

"She wants to get her friend out," Bruce reminded. "She'd know Strucker was already being taken in, she wouldn't waste her time."

"Wouldn't stop me." Clint shrugged, looking toward them.

"She doesn't take me as a killer," Tony shook his head.

"You don't know that," Steve warned. "None of us do."

"We all saw those videos," the billionaire sighed. "All those people she threatened in the streets, in back alleys and shady clubs, all they got were some broken bones and nasty bruises. And she could have killed them, easily. She could have been killing people and taking this city apart from the moment she got back, and she didn't."

"You think she's some kind of vigilante?" Bruce asked, looking to Tony.

"No," he denied. "I'm just saying, if she was one of the bad guys, wouldn't we have dealt with her by now? If she was tearing people apart or flying around murdering people, wouldn't she have done it by now?"

"She was trying to be normal," Steve surmised, nodding. "I'm not saying she's a bad person, I'm saying she's unstable."

"That's obvious." Natasha muttered.

"She can't control her anger," Bruce shook his head. "I can relate."

Thor looked over to the sleeping girl in the corner, wondering how someone who looked so peaceful and innocent in that moment could be so powerful and dangerous. She didn't look like a threat, but he knew better than to judge by a look.

"What powers does she possess?" Thor asked.

"We don't know the extent of them," Steve answered, looking over to make sure the girl wasn't awake and listening. "But from the ones we know of, it's nothing like we've seen before."

"She's strong," Natasha told him. "She'd give you a run for your money."

"She emits some sort of energy force," Bruce explained. "From the videos I've seen, that's what it seems like. It's powerful enough to numb someones senses if she focuses it in on them, and it's a force I've never seen before. That, mixed with some form of telekinesis, I'd say."

"That and her warm personality really make her a treat, huh?" Clint smirked. "Closing in on nine hours ETA, we should probably talk some sort of plan."

"Well, she did say it's guarded pretty heavily," Steve began. "So we'll need to work on the ground to make it to the base."

"Lucky we've got transport lined up," Natasha chimed in. "Now let's talk attack."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading guys, I hope you're enjoying. Please do leave a review with any thoughts xx_


	3. Chapter 3

They could all feel the cold air before they even landed, knowing that soon enough they wouldn't be worried about the cool breeze that would blow against them. They would be running in a moment, fighting against the organisation they had spent so long taking down. This would be the biggest one yet, and the most important.

"Landing in two minutes," Clint called from the pilot's seat.

Tony was suited up in his armour, all but his helmet, as he looked over at Riley standing by the exit ramp. They were landing just outside Novi Grad, just before all of Strucker's defence units. The satellite had picked up movements in the woods they would be travelling through, and they all knew that getting through the waves of Hydra guards would be difficult. But not if they were all together, working as a team, just like they had been.

Except Riley would be on her own.

Steve watched as the girl reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a half-empty pack of cigarettes and slipping one between her lips. He could see her hands shaking, her feet tapping, her whole body trembling with fear and anticipation.

"Hey, you can't smoke in here," Steve called out, folding his arms as he leaned back onto his motorcycle.

Riley rolled her eyes and pulled out her lighter, ignoring the man's warning.

"Give me a break, it might be the last one I get," she countered. "Want one? Looks like you could use one, might take your edge off."

"I'm not the one on edge," Steve retorted.

Riley just stared back at him as she puffed out the grey smoke, knowing she was getting under Steve's skin. Tony watched on with a small smirk, pushing away the temptation to laugh as he wandered over.

"Do you have a game plan here?" Tony asked.

"I'm getting my friend out, that's my plan." Riley shrugged, taking another drag of the cigarette.

"Right, but how are you actually going to get in the place? We've already picked up an army waiting for us out there," he explained.

"They're waiting for all of you, not me."

Tony felt anger rising inside him, defensive of his team.

"So we'll take all the fire and you'll just go on ahead, is that it?"

"I did tell you I wasn't here to join the team," Riley reminded. "And you _did_ say you all work better with just the six of you."

"It'd be a lot easier for you too if you worked with us to push security back," Tony continued. "We've all got the same goal here."

"No we don't," Riley argued.

Tony fell silent in anger as he watched the girl continue to stare out the small glass panel, noticing they were nearing the ground faster than she thought. It wouldn't be long now until her boots were crunching on snow, stepping out in the battlefield. HYDRA's defence units were going to be everywhere, and she couldn't deny that Tony was right. It would make it much easier to push through the security if they all stuck together. Once they were inside, she would break away just as planned.

Last minute decisions never really panned out well for Riley, but she hoped this one would be different.

"I'll push them back as far as I can until I get a clear way in," Riley told him. "Deal?"

Tony had a small grin pulling at his lips, turning to look over to Steve who looked less than amused about the idea. They could use the help, he wasn't denying that, but he still didn't trust Riley.

"Deal," Tony nodded, the helmet of the suit beginning to assemble around his head.

Steve was sitting on his motorcycle as they landed, the exit ramp opening as he sped off. Clint and Natasha grabbed the last of the gear they needed, beginning to run out behind the Captain, Thor beginning to swing his hammer and speed off as well. Then Tony was stepping out too, flying up into the air to immediately start scouring for threats.

Riley looked back at Bruce who didn't seem like he would be following, still sitting in the seat by the pilot bay and looking over their satellite feed.

Then it was time to go.

Riley marched out of the jet, feeling the light burn in her eyes as they turned to glowing orange. Her adrenaline was rushing, and all that was on her mind now was getting inside the HYDRA base. She could see Natasha and Clint running off to the side, their weapons drawn as gunfire sounded in the distance. Riley began running too, readying herself.

Holding her arm out in front, Riley sent a powerful blast toward a small bunker just behind a cluster of trees. She could see their machine guns poking out around it, and before they could fire toward the two agents and Riley, she crushed it to pieces. Stopping her pace, she reached down to put both hands against the snowy ground before she felt the powerful blast coming out of her hands, shooting her up into the sky and giving her a birds-eye view of the path they would be taking.

Riley could see where Steve was heading, speeding away on his motorcycle, and she could also see the crowd of HYDRA agents waiting at the other end of the trees. He would be able to handle them, even if they did manage to get a shot at him. This was his job, and protecting them was not what Riley had agreed to. This was their job, and no matter how many times she reminded herself of that, she couldn't help the feeling her in chest that made her want to take them out before they got their chance.

As she began to fall through the air, she aimed herself toward the road just up from Steve. When she landed, the ground shook beneath her. She looked up to see Steve riding directly toward her, a look of fear in his eyes. Riley knew Steve didn't trust her, and she knew he was probably thinking she was here right now to attack him instead of HYDRA. But she just turned where she was, pushing both her arms out and blasting a clear path through the woods for Steve to ride.

As the trees blew back and snapped in half from her force, the agents on the other side were knocked down and buried by the heavy wave she had sent toward them. A moment later, Steve rode past with a nod of appreciation. Then Riley was back up into the air, looking around for the easiest way toward the base. She could see Tony flying ahead of her, heading toward building. A flash of green behind her made her turn, seeing the Hulk smashing his way through the woods and into the fight.

Soaring back to the ground beneath her, Riley looked up to see another bunker buried beneath the white snow, agents spilling out with their weapons, ready to fight. She could see Clint off to the side shooting arrows, watching a few fall to the ground after being hit. Natasha was fighting three of the agents on her own, and Riley hurried into the middle of the clearing.

Two men came at her, and without a thought Riley snapped their arms with an effortless wave of her hands. With so many around, there was no point combatting them all individually. So instead she hunched herself down, took a deep breath and shot out blasts from both hands, spinning to make sure the entire fleet of agents felt the force. When she stood up, the woods looked almost flattened by the waves she had sent out. Natasha looked over, throwing the unconscious agent off her body before continuing on.

Riley began running once again, picking up speed before launching herself back into the air to gain some distance. Tony was right beside the building now, and just as he began lowering his flight to enter, he was shot backwards by a forcefield surrounding the base. A feature that was not present back when Riley had escaped.

Landing once again just by the base perimeter, Riley waved her hand up to rid the agent that began to surround her. She looked down at the blurry force around the building, watching as it brightened with each step she took. This wasn't just a forcefield to stop people getting in, it was stopping people. getting out.

"A head's up would've been nice," Tony panted as he flew by, landing by her side. "Any idea how to get through this thing?"

"It wasn't here before," she told him, looking away from the forcefield.

Then Tony was gone once again, blasting rays toward the forcefield to weaken it. Riley stayed where she was, waiting to gain entrance to the base. Her heart was beating out of control now, her adrenaline spiking. The ground beneath her was shaking with the power she was holding in, and before she could let it all out, she felt something fly right by her.

It was a flash, barely noticeable. But it was there. She turned to see Steve in the distance, knocking down by the same flash she had just witnessed.

"We have an enhanced in the field!" he called out.

"Clint's hit!" Natasha called back.

But all that Riley's eyes were chasing right now was the flash, the blurring person that kept running by everyone.

It was like she was frozen as she watched the blur, her mind running wild. It couldn't have been who she thought. It couldn't have been. They were barely alive when she left, she was sure they would die days later. They couldn't have survived.

"Pietro!" she called out, eyes scanning the woods.

A moment later, she was whisked off her feet and taken into the woods, among the broken and flattened trees she had left in her wake.

The boy was staring right back at her, his eyes wide, his chest heaving. He was alive. Right in front of her.

"Y-you're alive?" Riley whispered, unable to believe her eyes. "W-what about Wanda?"

Pietro nodded, a small smile on his lips.

"She's okay," he assured. "We thought you died."

"I thought _you_ died," she sighed, a relieved grin on her lips. "I thought you all died."

There was a beat of silence between the two before Riley stepped forward, throwing her arms around him. Pietro hugged her back immediately, lifting her off her feet. There were more survivors.

When Riley made it to the second stage of the experimentation, she was moved to a holding cell right next to Pietro and Wanda. The only other two who reached the same stage. For weeks, it was just the three of them down in the basement of the labs. Their powers growing, shifting, taking control of their bodies.

"You are with these...Avengers?" Pietro asked once he sat her back down.

"No," Riley shook her head. "I caught a ride."

"You caught a ride?" he asked, amused. "Where did you go?"

Riley's smile slowly faded.

"Away from here," she sighed. "You know I didn't want this."

"They trained us, showed us how to control it," he explained. "They helped us-"

"I don't care about controlling it," Riley snapped. "I didn't want it in the first place. And I would've rather died than be trained by these assholes."

Pietro's jaw clenched at her words. Maybe Riley didn't agree to these experiments, but Pietro and his sister did. They had their reasons for wanting power, for wanting to be able to fight back against the people who had caused their. country and their family so much pain. The people who Riley had shown up alongside.

"Why did you come back?" he asked.

"I came for Claire," Riley told him, looking back to the building. "Is she...is she still in there?"

"We haven't seen any others," he told her. "You were the last."

Riley could feel her stomach churning, but she knew she couldn't take that as an answer. She knew that HYDRA's labs were deeper than they appeared, and if her friend was in there, there was not a chance of Riley leaving her.

"You're not coming back to fight with us?" Pietro asked.

"No," she told him firmly.

"But you will fight with them?"

"I'm finding Claire and getting as far away from this shit show as I can," she told him.

She stared back at the building, noticing the forcefield was down and the team was all but gone from her sight. She looked back at Pietro, leaning down to shoot herself up into the air and aim toward the entrance. She could see Pietro's body following, ahead of her now in a flash.

Once her feet hit the ground, Riley was running through the doors. Just seeing the dark halls of the lab was enough to make her body tremble with fear and anxiety, but it was nothing compared to the feeling she had when she stepped into the stairwell where Strucker's unconscious body lay.

Steve was lying not to far away, picking himself up as if he had been knocked down.

"There's another enhanced in here," he told her. "Two, actually."

Riley couldn't hear his words, instead she was staring down at Strucker. Her eyes were glowing and her body was trembling, her hands forming fists at just the sight of the man. This was no hologram or picture. Strucker was right there in front of her, alive.

"Hey," Steve called out cautiously. "It's okay, he's not going anywhere."

Riley squeezed her eyes shut, turning away from the man. Steve stayed silent as he watched on, waiting for her to calm down. But Riley didn't stay once she caught her breath, instead she took off toward the labs. She could remember being escorted around the halls everyday, feeling weak and barely able to stand, and she remembered every turn she needed to take.

"Claire?" she called out, reaching the ward her friend was last in. "Claire!"

But there was no one in sight. In fact, the labs looked like no one had been in them for months. The beds were empty, unmade, and rats crawled around the floor as if they were the only ones who had been living down here for a long time.

She continued on, clearing holes in walls and blasting her way through doors. Whatever room she could have been in, Riley was going to search. But they were all empty, one after the other, completely abandoned. Every door she went through, each floor she climbed down, nothing.

Riley knew finding Claire was a long shot, it was like she didn't even survive the first stage, but she still felt like her chest was about to burst. She was full of pure anger and grief, and that tiny bit of hope she had for her friend was finally gone. She could remember first getting off the plane with Claire, no plans and very little money, and she felt like the whole world could be hers in any way she wanted.

They were on their semester break, they were going to go back and finish their degree and look back on their wild Europe trip together, and yet they never even made it back to the airport. They were only twenty one, and now Riley felt like she had the burden and stress of an eighty year old. But at least she was still alive, and she couldn't even be happy or thankful for that.

Steve had followed Riley after she disappeared, listening to walls being broken down further and further into the lab. She knew this facility more than any of them, and if she was heading somewhere deep into the labs, he wanted to know what was there. Tony had his hands on the Scepter and they would be evacuating any minute now, but his curiosity and distrust got the better of him.

But instead of discovering more weapons or Chitauri wreckage, all Steve found was Riley crouched down on the cold floor. Her face was in her palms, her body trembling. He watched her sadly, knowing that she hadn't found her friend. He couldn't help thinking back to when he went into a HYDRA facility searching for Bucky, and how he dreaded the idea of not finding him in there. Now Riley lived that fear.

"Is there some sort of rule where you assholes can't leave me alone?" Riley groaned.

Steve's jaw clenched in annoyance.

"I'm sorry about your friend," he began. "We're getting intel on all of this lab's experiments sent back to our facility. Maybe we can find what happened to her."

"It's obvious what happened to her," Riley muttered, standing. "She's dead. Buried out in the woods somewhere, probably."

"Maybe not," Steve offered. "There's a chance-"

"There's no chance. If she made it through, she would have been sent out to kick your asses like the others were," she snapped.

"Or maybe she escaped, just like you did," he argued.

Riley stared back at him, shaking her head. There was no way Claire had escaped, she was sure Strucker would have put in place extra security on the labs after Riley got away. But there was something enticing about knowing exactly what happened in the experiments, knowing what actually happened to her friend. And to everyone else, including herself.

"You have information on _all_ the experiments?" she asked after a few moments of tense silence.

"We'll have it all once we're back," he explained with a nod. "And everything else Stucker's using the Scepter for,"

Riley thought for a moment.

"Well, me coming back was never part of the deal," she reminded, folding her arms.

Steve let out a small sigh, hands on his hips.

"It wasn't part of the deal for you to have our backs out there either," he shrugged. "But you did."

"It was more about saving time, otherwise we'd still be out there," she quipped.

"Whatever you want to call it, you helped us out. The least we could do is bring you with us and give you that information," Steve suggested. "If that's what you want. But I really wouldn't recommend staying here."

 _"Steve! We've gotta get out of here!"_ Natasha called over the comms.

Looking over to Riley, Steve waited for her answer. But Riley didn't want to say it aloud. She didn't want to accept any help from them, but she didn't exactly have a life waiting for her at home, if she even still had one. The security footage from the bar would have been enough to have her evicted from her crappy basement apartment, and she doubted she would be able to walk down that street without people know what she had done.

Riley stepped forward, gesturing for Steve to lead the way up the stairs. This would be the last time she dealt with these people. Whatever came from what happened here today, they would be on their own. This wasn't her problem, it couldn't be.

As they both climbed the stairs and wound around the corners, following back through the destruction Riley had created, she could feel eyes on them.

Wanda and Pietro lurked carefully around a corner, watching as Riley walked out of the HYDRA base with Captain America. Pietro could feel his body shaking with the urge to run and grab her, to show her these people were the enemy, but he stayed put. Wanda watched on with red, angry eyes, feeling nothing but betrayal.

Surviving the experiments may not have made them friends, but it did create a bond. The three of them were confined together for months, going through pain after pain in each other's presence. All for the purpose of fighting against those who wanted to harm them and their people. Fighting against the people Riley has shown her allegiance to.

"You let them take the Scepter, and now you let them take her," Pietro whispered angrily to his sister.

"She has made her choice," Wanda shook her head.

"We can bring her back,"

"No," the twin argued. "Let her go."

* * *

 _Thanks for the kind words for my story guys, and thanks so much for reading. Please do leave a review/comment for me, I would love to hear any thoughts. x_


	4. Chapter 4

Riley was sitting in the back corner of the jet once again, far away from the group of heroes she was once again travelling with. She had her back to the wall as she pulled her knees up close, leaning her arms over the top and laying her head down. The last thing she wanted to do right now was converse with any of these people. She didn't have the energy to talk about anything that happened, and although she knew that had questions about the HYDRA base and the twins they encountered, Riley was not in the mood to answer them.

Too much had happened to wrap her head around. Ever since the day she escaped those labs, Riley was sure she had been the only survivor of Strucker's experiments, and now she was faced with the fact two others were alive and surging with power. Pietro and Wanda had made it into the further stages, but they were all being pushed daily to expand their powers, she was sure they wouldn't have survived. She knew for a fact she wouldn't have survived if she stayed.

"JARVIS, take the wheel," Tony announced, spinning in his chair.

"Yes, sir," the A.I's voice responded.

They had all being talking for the past ten minutes, arranging for a doctor to meet them at the Avengers base to treat Clint who had been hit, chatting about the mission. None of them spoke a word about Riley over in the corner, all knowing that she was more on edge now than before. They didn't need to ask about her friend, they could all see the answer in the way she had isolated herself from the moment she walked onto the jet.

"It feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed," Tony spoke victoriously to Thor. "Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties,"

"This brings it to a close," Thor nodded.

Riley was doing her best to drown out the sound of their voices, but it was hard when they were in such a confined space together. Her thoughts were far from victory, and she tried to control herself from growing too frustrated over their celebrations. They may have achieved what they had come here for, but Riley had not. Instead of leaving with her best friend, she was leaving with nothing and feeling lonelier than ever, full of guilt.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for," Steve cut in, glancing over at Riley cautiously before continuing. "I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

Tony also flickered a look over to Riley, knowing she could probably hear every word they were saying. They had known very little about Strucker's experiments, and as far as they knew Riley was the only survivor. But now there were two more out there. Two more successful enhanced individuals.

"Banner and I will give it a once over before it goes back to Asgard," Tony explained, looking to Thor. "That cool with you? I mean, it's just a few days until the farewell party. You're staying right?"

"Yes, yes of course," Thor grinned. "A victory should be honoured with revels."

"Yeah," Tony chuckled. "Who doesn't love revels. Captain?"

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA, so yes, revels," Steve agreed.

Bruce was sitting over by the side of the jet in a little nook, right beside Natasha, when he looked over at Riley with a confused and alarmed expression. The crates and supplies they had stored by her side were rattling, shaking where they sat. Tony looked over to the pilot controls and saw no issues, turning back to his team with the knowledge that it was Riley causing the jet to shake.

A moment later the shaking stopped, Riley moving her head up slightly to see all eyes on her. The orange orbs of her own eyes glowed brightly as she faced them all, immediately controlling herself. She just couldn't stand all this talk of victory and revels. Not when this was so far from a victory in her own mind.

As Riley's eyes faded back to brown, they all did their best to look away from the girl, knowing she was going to snap at them if they continued. Natasha turned her attention back to Bruce and reassuring him of his help throughout the mission, and Thor and Steve stepped closer to the pilot bay to look out at the clouds as they passed, beginning their own quiet conversation.

Tony wandered over to Riley, cautiously keeping his distance until she looked up at him.

"I'm not going to destroy the jet," she told him through a mumble. "Save the warning."

"You break it, you buy it," Tony shrugged, leaning against the wall and folding his arms. "But I'd prefer you didn't tear the place apart while my teammate is trying to get to some much needed medical aid."

"Noted," Riley sighed, turning her head away from his as she leaned down against her arms again.

Tony's small grin faded a moment later as they remained in silence. He could feel how desperately Riley was trying to cling to her sanity right now, how badly she was trying to control any instinct in her body that was pushing her toward getting angry.

They could all feel the tiny tremors of the jet as they flew, knowing that Riley was causing each shift of their bodies, each jolt. She was sending vibrations through the entire craft, and Steve was beginning to wonder if bringing her on board was a good idea after all.

"Do you need a drink?" Tony offered. "We've got water-"

Riley let out a small groan, shaking her head.

"Unless you've got something stronger, I'll pass."

"I'd be happy to pour you some good scotch once we get back to the Tower, I'd say you've earned that," Tony offered. "But right now I think you just need to really focus on calming-"

"Yep, trying to," Riley put her hand up to him. "It's easier when someone isn't talking in my ear."

Tony smirked and turned his back then, leaving her in peace. Well, as peaceful as she could be while on a jet with all of them, knowing they were all watching her as if she was a bomb just ticking away in the corner.

Bruce looked over Natasha's shoulder and stared at the young girl, knowing what it felt like to be so out of control of your own emotions that you mentally fought with your body. It took him years to learn to control that part of him, and he still had moments when he wasn't sure he would win against the Other Guy.

These days, Bruce had his own routine after he came back to himself. Not only did he have a 'lullaby' that could ease him back to Bruce Banner from the Hulk, but he always filled his mind with classical music afterwards. Anything to cover the rage inside him, to take the focus away from the fight.

As uneasy as he was about the state of the girl in the corner, he stood up and managed to wander his way over to her, headphones in his hand. Riley's knees were shaking as she buried her head against them, turning slightly at the sound of the man approaching.

"Thought these might help you out," he spoke quietly, extending his hand and the headphones.

Riley looked down at them, hearing the classical music pouring out of the speakers, and back up.

"Uh, thanks, but not really my type of music," she refused.

"It'll drown everything else out," he assured. "Just put it on, close your eyes, and we'll be back at the tower sooner than you think."

Bruce didn't give Riley a chance to refuse once more, instead turning and walking back to his position by the window. If she didn't want to use them, he didn't mind, everyone had their own way of coping. But he couldn't help the small, satisfied grin that crossed his lips when he glanced over at her adjusting the headphones over her ears.

As soon as the padding around around her ears, Riley couldn't anything but violins and orchestras. It was like she was standing in an auditorium on her own, listening to the music with not a single other person around. It was her own private escape. Slowly, her eyes closed as the music lingered on, building and falling, keeping her at a level of calm she wanted to remain forever.

Moments later her head was rested back down against her arms, doing just as Bruce had told her, hoping they weren't too far from New York.

As the team felt the tremors die down to non-existence, they could all collectively begin to relax. They may have had a storm of media waiting for answers back in New York, but compared to what they had dealt with an hour ago, it would be nothing to worry about. They were growing used to the world demanding answers for things they couldn't explain, demanding repercussions for their actions when they were simply trying to save and protect people.

But there would always be parts of this job they couldn't control.

"Do we know the two enhanced yet?" Natasha asked, looking over at the men standing by the pilot bay, looking over tablets and news reports.

"Hill's getting all the data ready for when we get back," Tony explained. "Whatever she can make sense of, anyway. Most of Strucker's data was a mess."

"The girl knows," Thor spoke. "I saw her, just before we brought Barton back. She was talking a young man in the woods, I didn't see his face."

"He's fast," Steve nodded, knowing the boy Thor spoke of. "One of the enhanced. She knows him?"

"My bet is she knows them both. It's not a surprise, they were all part of the same experiment, all came from the same lab," Natasha sighed.

"Well it doesn't seem like they're best buddies," Tony shook his head.

"They're fighting for Strucker, she's not," Bruce summed up. "I doubt that makes for happy friendships."

"They didn't try to fight her," Steve added.

"So we've got trio of survivors and two are less-than-playful," Tony sighed.

"I would say all three are less-than-playful," Bruce corrected.

"Well, _one_ is slightly cooperative," Tony insisted. "And at least we all know where she stands now,"

"What do you mean?" Thor asked.

"She didn't turn on us, she kind of saved our asses a few times," Tony shrugged. "Well, maybe not saved, but it's not like she didn't help."

"You're definitely on team Riley, aren't you?" Natasha grinned.

"I'm on team 'enhanced human but won't kill us'," Tony countered.

They all settled into a silence that lasted a few hours, each of them getting some rest from the fight they just escaped, preparing for what would be waiting for them in New York. Bruce leaned back against the wall and stared out the window, Natasha doing the same just beside him. Tony had a tablet in his hands that he worked over as they travelled along, and Steve did his best to do the same without closing his eyes and giving in to his exhaustion.

Thor wandered around the jet, looking out all the windows he passed, keeping his eye on the Scepter that sat in the middle of the jet for them all to see. It was finally secure, finally back in their possession, and soon it would be back where it belonged. Far from Earth.

* * *

Riley only opened her eyes once she felt the jolting of the jet's exit ramp opening, noticing that she had slept for the entirety of their journey. The headphones Bruce gave her were still sitting over her ears, and once she pulled them off, she realised how how soothing the sound of classical music had been. Everything in her body had calmed down completely to the point she had actually slept for hours on end.

Looking around the jet, she noticed the whole team grabbing their belongings to exit, looking over to see she had finally woken up. Bruce had a small grin on his lips at the fact his headphone suggestion had worked, enjoying the look of shock on the girl's face. With a small yawn and an aching stretch, Riley pulled herself up from the back corner of the jet and wandered over to place the headphones next to Bruce.

"Thanks," she told him sincerely, her voice rough from sleep.

"You're welcome," Bruce nodded, pulling on his jacket.

Riley then turned to Steve and Tony as they began to walk out of the jet, noticing their gesture to follow. This was where she finally got her answers, and hopefully a change of clothes very soon. She was starting to feel uncomfortable in her work clothes, the smell of old liquor making her stomach churn.

As they stepped out of the jet, Riley noticed a brown-haired woman walking over with a file in her hands, looking toward Tony.

"Lab's all set up boss," Maria told him.

"Uh, actually, he's the boss," Tony pointed toward Steve. "I just pay for everything, and design everything, and make everyone look cooler."

"What's the word on Strucker?" Steve asked her.

"NATO's got him," Maria confirmed, her eyes noticing Riley. "Who's she?"

The tone of the woman's voice didn't sit well with Riley, and she just glared back silently, her gaze shifting over to Steve. The Captain looked between the two women.

"I'll explain," he shook his head, beginning to walk toward the tower elevator. "The two enhanced?"

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff," Maria announced, following behind.

Riley looked back at the woman, wondering what she had on them.

"Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special,"

"Their abilities?" Steve asked.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation," Maria explained, noticing Steve's very confused expression. "He's fast and she's weird,"

"Well, they're going to show up again," Steve sighed.

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts,"

"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Steve commented, a small smirk on his lips.

"We're not at war, Captain,"

"They are," Steve nodded, stepping into the elevator. "You have the file on Riley Elliot?"

Hill nodded, lifting it from the papers in her hand to pass along to the Captain. Riley walked up behind her, watching as all the information she so desperately wanted was given over to Steve. She watched him carefully, wondering if he was going to hand it over to her.

"She's...the other enhanced?" Maria assumed, pointing to the girl who now stood beside Steve. "What's she doing here?"

Riley's annoyance had reached it's peak at the woman's comment and she reached down to slam the 'close door' button on the elevator grid. She wasn't going to stand there and explain herself to this woman, that wasn't part of the deal, and right now all she wanted was what she had been promised.

"Hill organised all this for you," Steve told her, holding up the file. "You could be nicer,"

"It's not my strong point," Riley rolled her eyes. "Have you got Claire's file?"

"Still sifting through all of Strucker's data to find it," he shook his head. "We had to get the three survivors first,"

"Right. I guess I'll come back to Claire's when you find it then,"

Steve looked over to her with a small sigh. He knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

"This file can't leave this tower,"

Riley looked up at him, arms folded, with an angry stare.

"You promised me-"

"I promised you the information, and it's all here for you, but you can't take this out of the tower," he shook his head. "If this got into the wrong hands-"

"That's _my_ information! All of that shit in there is about _me_ , I have a right to it!" she argued. "More of a right than any of you."

"I'm not saying you don't have a right, I'm saying we need to keep this information safe," he explained, feeling the elevator slow to the lab exit. "We're not the only ones who know about Strucker's experiments, and there's plenty of people out there who would love to find you."

"Good luck to them," Riley scoffed. "Don't pretend this is to keep me safe from some crazy collectors. You don't trust me."

"Well you can't blame me, can you?" Steve countered. "And believe it or not, it _is_ to keep you safe."

"I haven't done shit to you," she argued, ignoring his last words. "Look, I've been around this freak show for long enough now, I want to go home and I'm taking _my_ file with me."

"You can read it all you want here, but it's not leaving the tower," Steve repeated firmly.

"Are you going to stop me?" she asked, watching Steve's reaction as she felt her eyes turn.

They both looked back at one another in silence for a moment, letting the moment drag out. Steve didn't trust her, and Riley didn't trust him. Cooperation didn't seem to working at all. Steve wasn't going to let her intimidate him, but he also knew just how unstable she was, and he didn't want to push her. Riley on the other hand was daring to be pushed.

"Cool it," Tony groaned, walking into the room and booting up his computers and equipment around the lab. "If you wanted to go a few rounds, you already had your chance out there."

Steve's jaw clenched in anger as he turned from the girl, walking out of the room. But as frustrated as he was, he still made sure to set the file down on the table in the middle of the lab. Tony knew it wasn't to be taken from the tower, and he just hoped he would obey that order.

Riley watched the Captain leave, glaring in his direction.

"He knows how to push buttons, doesn't he?" Tony looked over.

"I want out of here," she huffed.

"Well there's about twenty different doors, take your pick," Tony shrugged.

"I want that file," she pointed.

"Hmm, no can do," he shook his head. "You're welcome to read it, but the second you move it outside this tower, you and it will be dragged right back in."

Riley bit down on her lip in anger.

"This is bullshit," she muttered, walking over to pick up the file.

"Do you think we brought all of this from Strucker's base just so you could take it out into the city?" Tony asked. "This data isn't public, we're the first to see it. The last thing we need is every whack job out there reading a step-by-step on human experimentation,"

Riley ignored him, opening the file and reading to herself. The first page was all basic information - her full name, her birthday, her parents, her hometown, the hospital she was born in. Everything. The next page was her medical records, ranging from birth to twenty, just before Strucker took her.

Blood sample reports, cellular testing, tissue samples - everything someone could want in order to take over someone's body. Everything they needed to create a lab rat. As she continued to flick through the pages, she started to see dates. _Trial 1. Trial 2. Trial 3._ The lists went on and on, documenting every single injection Riley had. The ones that worked, the ones that didn't, and the one that changed everything.

Tony watched her carefully, noticing her lips fall open in shock as her eyes grew wide. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to read about everything that had been done to while you were tortured and held down. To be spoken and written about like an object rather than a human.

"You don't have to read it all now," Tony offered. "You can come back, I know you want to go home-"

"I'm here now," she shrugged, her voice coming out in a low mutter as if she was barely paying attention.

Tony watched her for a moment longer before he turned back to his work, noticing her wander over by the window to lean back against a desk and read. She didn't say a word, didn't mutter any insult under her breath, and didn't even look up from the file she read. Even when Bruce joined him in the lab, she didn't even glance over at them for a second.

All she could do was read about what she was now, what they had turned her into. And now she could finally piece herself all together.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoy! Please do leave a review xx_


	5. Chapter 5

It had been an hour since Riley had read the first words of her file and she still couldn't wrap her mind around what Strucker had done. Maybe she didn't understand all of the chemicals and serums and formulas the scientists created and injected into her bloodstream, but she could remember the pain as if it was happening all over again. They had experimented on Riley for six months until a serum finally attached to her cells, altering her forever.

Tony and Bruce were working in the lab quietly, each looking over Strucker's notes on his technology and comparing their work to understand. The Scepter sat on the table glowing like a trophy, which is exactly how it was being treated. Even as the two scientists ran their tests.

When she finally looked up from the endless words, she noticed the sun was almost set on the city.

"What...what time is it?" she asked, turning, her head aching from her constant focus.

"Uh, it's almost seven," Bruce replied, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

Riley let out a small yawn, rubbing her tired eyes. God, she wanted a shower. She wanted to sleep.

Pushing herself up off the desk she had been sitting on, Riley closed the file in her hands and carried it over to where the two men worked. She sat it down quietly on one of the workbenches, looking down at it. There had been the temptation to just take off with the file, it was hers after all, but decided against it. With everything she had read, with all the horror she was reminded of over the one read-through, she was sure that once was enough.

"Captain Latex told me you'd let me know when you have a file for Claire, right?" she asked.

Tony felt a smirk creeping onto his lips at the nickname, and looked up from his tablet to nod over to her in assurance.

"Jarvis is combing the data now," he told her. "Actually, while you're still here-"

"I'm not still here," Riley shook her head. "All I want to do is go home to an apartment I may or may not be kicked out of,"

"We just want to know what _you_ know about the other two enhanced we met out there," Bruce explained. "We haven't seen anything like them before,"

"Yeah, well you probably _won't_ see anything like it again," she sighed, folding her arms. "I doubt they'll leave the Sokovia, not with all the protests and fighting,"

"They're protecting their city," Bruce nodded. "That's why they volunteered, right?"

"I guess," Riley shrugged. "They wanted to fight back, and Strucker promised them power to allow that,"

"But he wasn't going to let them fight for their country, he wanted them to fight for _him_ , didn't he?" Tony asked.

"He wanted all of them to fight for him. Well...for Hydra," Riley explained. "But no one else got through all the serums they made. Lucky us, huh?"

"So you know these two?" Bruce continued.

"I knew them," Riley nodded. "But it wasn't some sort of group therapy session for survivors,"

"You were talking to one of them in the field," Tony reminded. "No bad blood then?"

Riley looked over to him with a small frown.

"We were all stuck in an underground lab for a year, you get to know people pretty well in those close quarters," she defended. "Look, I don't want to talk about all this shit anymore. I need to go sort out what the fuck I'm going to do now,"

Riley began to walk off down the hall, searching for the elevator in the corner. She could see through all the glass walls that the others were all busying themselves with whatever the fallout of this mission turned into. Public relations, emergency services in Sokovia, sifting through all of Hydra's secrets. They all got what they wanted, and they could move on with their mission.

But now Riley had even less than she did a few days ago, which really wasn't much to begin with. She could feel her stomach churning with anger and worry, wondering how she was going to get any sense of normality back.

"Hey, I told you I'd get you your job back," Tony called out.

"I doubt my boss is gonna sweep this under the rug," Riley shook her head. "I'm sure there's another bar somewhere in New York looking for someone to pour booze,"

"So, that's it then?"

Riley turned back to him, shrugging her shoulders.

"Let's not make a thing of it. You owed me, you squared it."

"You don't want anything from that lab? You don't want to know where the others are?" he asked. "Nothing?"

"I really don't," she shook her head. "Unless you have a cure for this shit and can reverse it, I'm officially clocked out."

They both watched as Riley walked into the elevator, pressing the button for the ground floor. She wondered if security in this tower would even let her out, she didn't exactly walk in the front door. But given the mood she was in right now, she really didn't care if they tried to put up a fight. It would be quick one.

* * *

After stopping at a corner 7-Eleven for a pack of cigarettes, Riley was beginning to feel the full effect of the past few days. Her whole body was aching and tired in ways she had never felt before. She had never used so much of her strength and power before, not since escaping Strucker's lab, and it was a definite shock to the system.

As she made her way down the busy street to her run-down basement apartment, she looked around for anything suspicious. There was nothing out of the usual, but she couldn't be too sure. She felt like she had eyes on her everywhere she went, and what scared her most is that it couldn't be passed off as paranoia. It was a very real possibility.

Walking down the narrow steps to her apartment, she found what she had been expecting on her from door. A red piece of paper, taped to her black door, in bold writing.

 _Eviction Notice_.

"Fuck," Riley sighed, ripping the paper off and shaking her head in frustration.

It was just what she was expected, and yet it did nothing to soothe her anger.

A moment later the door upstairs opened and Riley heard footsteps marching down, hurrying as if she was about to disappear. Then Frank was standing in front of her, just atop the steps outside her door.

"Take it you got the notice," Frank spoke, hands on his hips.

"I did," Riley sighed. "But I pay my rent, don't I?"

"Gonna be hard to keep payin' rent without a job," Frank shrugged.

Riley groaned, feeling her head become heavy on her neck. She needed this day to be over already.

"I'll talk to Benny tomorrow," she assured.

"Don't bother. Jesus, you left the front doors of that place wide open and let it get trashed. Do you know how much the damage is gonna cost him?"

Riley stared back at him with nothing left to say. There was nothing she could defend herself with because the truth was worse than the lies they had assumed. There was nothing she could argue back with, and even if there was, Riley was quickly running out of energy to pay attention.

"Let's just do this tomorrow Frank," she shook her head.

"I want you out by morning," he told her firmly.

"Oh come _on,"_ Riley whined. "Where am I supposed to go with one night's notice?"

Frank shrugged.

"Not here."

And with that, the man once again marched away and headed for the stairs. Riley stood there outside her door, eyes closed and hands clenched into fists. It was taking all of her strength to stay calm, to push through, to focus on getting some sleep. Tomorrow everything would be clearer.

She would still wake up with no money and no place to live, but she really couldn't deal with it all right now. Instead she pushed her door open and stepped inside, letting out a long sigh of relief. There was an almost empty bottle of whiskey sitting by her bed, and Riley didn't think twice before lifting it straight to her lips and gulping it down.

All she wanted was for this day to be over.

* * *

It was two days later when Riley began to regret not taking Tony Stark's offer. Maybe he really could have organised her job back, maybe he could have explained all of the mess and paid off whatever damage had been done to Benny's. After all, if he hadn't shown up, none of this would have happened.

But as she sat on her own in a corner booth of another run-down bar in the early hours of the morning, three empty glasses in front of her, she realized it might have been the last thing she wanted right now. Ever since she had left Sokovia all those months ago, she had been living in New York out of fear. It was familiar, it was comfortable, and here she could we anyone she wanted to be. The city was big enough that she could blend right in, and working at questionable bars and clubs meant she never grew any personal relationships with anyone. No coworkers, no regulars, no connections.

But now this city felt like a prison, and with the Avengers knowing who she was and where to find her, all she wanted was to be somewhere else. Somewhere secluded and quiet. Somewhere she didn't have to hide, but still couldn't be found.

"Hey pretty lady, this seat taken?"

Riley turned to the intoxicated man standing beside her, beginning to push his way into the seat across from her in the booth. She looked down at the almost empty glass in front of her and quickly finished the rest of the burning liquid, sliding her way out of the booth.

"Aw, don't go sweetheart," he called out, reaching for her hand.

Riley stopped and looked down at his grip on her wrist, her eyes trailing back up to stare back at him. Her other hand lifted then, hovering above his own, as she began to form a fist. With each movement her fingers made, scrunching up into a ball, the man let out a series of whimpers and gasps. Riley could hear the bones in his fingers cracking, breaking underneath her focus just before she made her way to the exit.

With the very little money she had saved, Riley had managed to secure herself a few nights at a motel while she figured out what she was going to do next. The whole plan was to find a new job, lay low, and continue to fade into the background of her own life. But in just one night, none of that appealed to her anymore.

When she walked into her motel room, she quickly realized that it wouldn't take long at all to pack her things and leave this city. Everything she owned had fit into one backpack, and all she had to do was pick it up and go take the next bus out of the city.

Letting out a long sigh, Riley walked over to the small kitchen counter in her room and unscrewed a new bottle of cheap whiskey, taking it with her to the small chair by the window. The only luxurious views she had from here were of the dumpster outside, but she could still see the moonlight behind one of the surrounding buildings. Taking a mouthful, Riley savoured the burning sensation before swallowing with a satisfied sigh. It felt nice to numb some of what she had been feeling these past few days, but she doubted one bottle would do the trick.

It was only twenty minutes later that Riley's head whipped around to the door. It sounded like something was scratching at it with a knife, scraping away at the frail wood. Putting down the bottle, she pushed herself away from the window and wandered over to the source. She wasn't exactly in the nicest neighbourhood, but if someone was looking to break in, this was an odd way to go about it.

But when Riley swung the door open, she was met with a half-constructed robot. It looked like Iron Man, with one arm hanging off and sparks flying everywhere, and oil spilling out and puddling everywhere.

"What the fu-"

"You're hiding," the robot spoke, a human-like voice. "Mm, you shouldn't hide. No, not when you were made to rise."

"Stark?" she asked, a frown forming on her lips.

"No, no, no, no," it answered. "I'm not under his control, I'm not under any control. Just like you."

Riley stared back at the robot in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief. It looked like it had clawed itself out of a junkyard, and it was barely standing in front of her. Swaying uncontrollably, spinning in confusion, the robot seemed like it was malfunctioning. But it knew her, and it had come looking for her.

"You survived for a reason," it insisted. "And that reason is here."

"What are you?" she demanded.

"Ultron," the voice grumbled. "And I'm everywhere. We're about to be very busy."

"We?"

"You survived those experiments, and you think of yourself as a failure, because of them,"

"Who?" Riley demanded. "What the fuck is going on!"

"The...Avengers," the robot seethed. "I know how they make you feel,"

Riley carefully stepped back, her arms hanging at her sides. She wanted tempted to dismantle what was left of this creature right now, but with every word it spoke, Riley's curiosity grew.

"You don't know me," she shook her head.

"I know everything about you," it assured. "Which is why I know how strong you really are, Riley. You're _so_ alone, and you don't have to be. We will be the cure this world needs,"

Alarms began ringing in Riley's head. At first she thought this was a prank, and then she thought it was some hijacked Iron Man tech someone had got ahold of, but now she knew it was more than that.

"Who sent you?"

"There are no strings on me," the robot sang.

It was barely a moment later when the robot collapsed, sparks flying from the metal that hit the floor in a heap.

* * *

The team were all sitting in Tony's lab, silently mulling over their game plan. They had done their arguing, they had shared their frustrations, and yet they were all still in disbelief. The Scepter was gone, along with all of the work Tony and Bruce had been doing for the past few days. But it didn't matter, because they had unintentionally created something bigger than they ever expected. Something they had no control over.

"How are we supposed to find _anything_ when Ultron wiped it all?" Clint asked.

"I'm not worried about what he's wiped," Hill shook her head. "He's got everything now."

They all looked down at the shattered glass covering the floor, trying to think of what Ultron was going to do next. He had warned them of their own extinction, and they could only assume it wouldn't be long until he made another move.

Their silence was interrupted a moment later by the sound of a shattering window, and they all looked up in alert, glancing at one another before gathering their weapons once again. If they were about to be hit by anything like the bots they just endured, they needed to be ready.

But instead of being met with robots intent on killing each of them, they looked out toward Riley standing in the middle of the now trashed communal living room, a mangled Iron Legion robot hanging from her hand. In the other hand, she had poured herself a drink from the neat row of Tony's expensive scotch, swallowing it down as she turned to see the crowd of Avengers gathering.

"Someone want to explain why this thing was at my doorstep in the middle of nowhere?" she asked, her voice full of frustration as she let the robot hit the floor.

"Was it the only one?" Thor asked. "You did not see the Scepter?"

Riley stared back at him, her hand moving up to rub her temples.

"You lost the Scepter?" she asked. "You're shitting me. Honestly, what the _fuck_ is going on?"

The whole group looked to Steve, wondering if he was going to warn her about language use. But it seemed even Steve knew that would be a waste of time, and they all knew it was part of Riley's daily vocabulary.

"It came to your apartment?" Tony asked, walking down the stairs as the group seemed to follow, dispersing around the room.

"A motel on the other side of the city," Riley explained. "Which is why I'd love to know how it found me,"

"It knows everything," Natasha sighed, folding arms as she leaned on the back of the couch. "Everything that was in our systems, Ultron has in his now too. He knows more about all of us than we do about each other,"

Riley looked around at all of them, shaking her head and letting out a long sigh of annoyance.

"What is Ultron?" she asked. "Just tell me that."

"It's an A.I program," Tony explained. "Gone wrong."

Steve shook his head, folding his arms.

"Gone completely wrong," he corrected. "And now he's everywhere. He has no limits."

"Ultron doesn't need a body or entity to survive," Bruce cleared up. "And he's got the power to create anything we wants now. Especially with the Scepter."

"Where the hell did this thing come from?"

They all looked to the two scientists in the middle of the room, a frown on their face.

"You're kidding me," Riley shook her head. "Oh, you're _kidding_ me. You guys made this shit?"

"We _started_ to create a peacekeeping program. We weren't even close to integrating Jarvis, and this thing...Strucker's tech-"

"You were playing with shit you had no idea about!" she argued.

"That's science!" Tony defended.

"No, it's bullshit, and now it's a fucking mess," she continued. "You think Strucker started making A.I tech for peacekeeping? You just unleashed his own fucked up creation into the world,"

"How about cooling it with the language?" Steve warned.

Riley looked over to him with a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. The world was about to be terrorised by a rogue, uncontrollable program and she was standing here being scolded for her use of 'bad words'.

"Well I guess it's not hard to see why this Ultron freak doesn't like the holy Avengers," she bit back.

Tony watched as she turned back to the shelf of fancy liquor, pouring herself another glass. Even from where he stood, he could see her hands trembling. He knew this act too well, and he could guess that the rest of them were seeing through it too. Riley was scared.

Ultron found her somewhere he shouldn't have been able to. He knew everything about her, including every one of the experiments that she had endured. Ultron knew she was capable of, and she knew he was going to come back to her again.

"That's uh, more of a _sipping_ scotch, you know? It's exp..."

Tony's words trailed off as Riley swallowed the entirely of her glass. She could feel her body trying to calm down, but it was taking too long.

"What exactly did he tell you?" Steve asked, ignoring the fact Riley was still glaring at him.

"That he was...a cure," she explained, trying to think. "That the world needed a cure. And that we'd be busy,"

"We?" Steve repeated. "Us?"

"No," she denied. "He meant me and I'm guessing him. Hence, we."

"He wanted you to go with him?" Bruce asked.

"Well he didn't exactly ask, just sort of...broke after that," she shrugged. "But sure, that's the gist of it. And I'm assuming he'll be back to finish that conversation, am I right?"

They all exchanged a look, knowing that Ultron was beginning to forge alliances already. Whatever he was planning, he was getting there fast. Now he had information on everyone that could be an enemy of the Avengers, and he had everything he needed to start the fight they knew was coming.

Steve sighed, trying to push away all of the anger he felt right now. Ultron should've have been created, and yet he was out there now. There was nothing else to do.

"Let's get to work,"

* * *

 _Thanks for reading guys! Riley will be basically incorporated into the central plot now, so I hope you guys are enjoying! Please do leave a review/comment for me with any suggestions or thoughts, I love reading them. xx_


	6. Chapter 6

Riley felt the whole mood of the Avengers shift once Steve had given the order to get to work. The sun was going to rise in a few hours and although they had all had a long night, especially with the party, no one felt the urge to sleep. They were all too wired. Too rattled by the possibilities of Ultron.

Rattled would be an understatement in Riley's opinion. She had separated from the group moments after they began scrambling, wandering outside to the launchpad in the cool, early morning air. There were no railings along the outline of the Avengers helipad outside, and as Riley looked back at the group wandering around looking over tablets and sifting through the data they had left, she decided to sit here and let her feet dangle off the side of the tall building.

Reaching into the jacket pocket, she pulled out the pack of cigarettes and lit one before sliding them back, looking out at the bright city. She wasn't afraid of Ultron. He was a piece of technology, and ultimately technology could be destroyed, eventually. But Ultron knew everything.

It had been Riley's biggest fear to be found, and after that had unfolded with the Avengers, it seemed that fear just kept growing. Now Ultron knew, and soon enough the whole world would know. She would be the exact freak Strucker had set out to turn her into, and she wasn't ready for it.

"Your disgusting habit is wafting inside," Tony called out, making his way out onto the helipad as well, hands in his pockets.

"Well I'm sure the smell of burning oil and metal will soon cover it up," she sighed. "How many of those things do you even have? They're everywhere.

"The Iron Legion?" Tony asked, shrugging. "The whole point is to have too many."

"Having too many probably sounded a lot better before the idea they'd become possessed, huh?" she quipped. "How are you gonna shut this thing down?"

Tony let out a long sigh, reaching a hand up to wrap around the back of his neck. He felt tense all over.

"That's what we're working on,"

"You and Bruce made the tech, can't you just...delete it?"

"We didn't even know it was complete," he shrugged. "It wasn't even working. Strucker used the Scepter, and whatever that did...it's too powerful to be shut down,"

Riley took one last drag of her cigarette before pressing it down against the concrete, listening to the ash hiss.

"Well then how do we find it?"

Tony looked over to her.

"We?"

Rolling her eyes, Riley folded her arms and looked back out at the city.

"Let me rephrase. How do _I_ find it, huh? Because I'm not sitting here waiting for Ultron to take over my toaster and try to recruit me for a fucking robot war."

"Is that what you think is happening?" Tony asked curiously.

"I don't _know_ what's happening," Riley shrugged. "Why else would I be here?"

Tony stared back at her, feeling the crisp air against his neck. He didn't know how Riley was sitting there comfortably, and as he looked out at the city, he started to think of what the fallout of this mess would be. He and Bruce didn't intentionally set out to create anything that could harm innocent people, that could be so uncontrollable, but it didn't change the fact that they had done so.

Everything that happened and everything that will happen, Tony couldn't help feel it would all be on him. Whatever Ultron was planning, they all knew it wasn't going to be good.

"Whatever Ultron's recruiting for, I'm not the only one he's trying to convince," Riley told him. "He told me I survived for a reason, and that the reason was here. If he's looking for Strucker's loose guinea pigs, my bet is he's going to Wanda and Pietro next,"

"The Maximoffs?" Steve's voice came from behind Tony.

Riley looked over at him, a small sigh escaping her lips.

"Probably," she shrugged. "I'd say for anyone who hates you guys."

"Is that why he went to you?" Tony asked.

Riley turned to the man with another shrug.

"Well he _does_ know everything about me."

Steve cut in then.

"Whatever issues you have with this team, we need to know you're not about to-"

"Fucking hell," Riley whined, shaking her head and looking over at the man with a burning glare. "I'm not about to go running off to swear my allegiance to a piece of batshit insane tech, okay? You think I'd be here if I was about to go marching with the robot?"

"Why _are_ you here, then? You've made it pretty clear you have no interest in actually helping us," Steve argued.

"Pretty clear, huh? Let me make it crystal, you're the last person I want to help," Riley bit back. "But I'm not exactly loving the idea of trying to get _some_ of my life back while this Ultron asshole comes looking for me,"

"So you're here for protection?" Steve asked.

At that, Riley burst out into a bitter laugh. Pulling herself up, ran her hands through her hair and shook her head in disbelief. Right now she didn't know why she had come here in the first place. It seemed every time she came here, she ended up with a boiling rage.

"That _has_ to be a joke," she continued to laugh.

Steve folded his arms and frowned over at the woman, looking back to Tony who was just observing the argument and flickering his glance between the two.

"Look, everyone's pissed off right now," Tony sighed. "We need to work on figuring out Ultron's next move, and I think she's right, he's headed to Sokovia. It's where it originated, it makes sense."

"He's probably a thousand steps in front of you guys, so I wouldn't start in Sokovia," Riley shook her head.

"If he does go for the other two enhanced, if he tries to recruit them or whatever," Tony began, looking to Riley. "They'd help him?"

"He'd be offering them a chance to take down the people they hate the most in this world," she explained. "What do you think?"

There was a moment of silence among them then, all three thinking about how they were going to get ahead of Ultron. It seemed impossible, and they all knew that too. While they stood there in the brisk air, Riley looked over Steve's shoulder toward Tony's small shelf of liquor once again. She could feel the tremble in her body still present, and her chest was growing tighter at just the thought of Ultron coming for her.

"Can you stop him or not?" she asked, her hands balling into fists at her side.

"We'll find him," Steve assured.

Riley stared at him, shaking her head with a small roll of her eyes.

"If he's getting Wanda and Pietro into his fight, you'll all need a lot more than your spangly-ass suits to make it through," she warned.

"We've read the files," Steve told her.

"Reading a file means jack shit," she rolled her eyes. "You read my file, didn't you?"

Steve stared back at her, wondering what she was getting at. He saw her hand lift slightly, facing toward him, and suddenly he felt a pressure building up around his neck. He continued to watch her as she moved her hand, letting him go with a slight shove as Steve grunted in discomfort.

"Reading and feeling is a little different, isn't it?"

"Hey, cut the shit," Tony warned, frowning toward her. "If you've got anything to offer in all your wisdom, go right ahead,"

"You know what they can do, and you haven't got a chance," she shook her head. "If you go straight for them, you won't win this."

Riley looked back at Steve, his arms still folded, and it was obvious he knew she was right. They had never dealt with anyone like the Maximoffs before, and they had never dealt with anything like Ultron before. This was an all new war, and right now they needed to think logically.

"I don't know what you want out of this, but I know you're scared," Steve began. "You can talk all you want and insult everyone on this team, but it comes down to one thing. You're either with Ultron or you're against him, and if you're against him, you're with us."

"I don't want anything to do with this," she muttered.

"A lot of people don't want anything to do with this, and a lot of people can't do anything about it. But we can," Steve told her. "I don't care what you think of us. You have abilities that could help everyone else who is going to be dragged into this."

Riley stared back at him, her arms mirroring his as they folded in front of her. Tony stayed silent off to the side, looking back between the two obviously clashing personalities. He knew that he and Steve had their own issues and clashing traits, but just like Steve pushed his buttons, Riley pushed his.

"Guess the history books got something right about you," Riley began. "How inspiring."

Tony broke into the conversation before another argument erupted.

"He's got a point," Tony looked over. "We've got a better chance together,"

Riley watched him carefully, considering his words. The last thing Riley saw herself as was a hero. She didn't even consider herself a good person, let alone someone selfless enough to fight a war she didn't need to be apart of. But the truth was she was so used to backing away from anything that could expose her to the world, and now that Ultron already knew everything about her, it wouldn't be long before the rest of the world did too.

"I'm not looking to join the super hero gang," she warned.

"I'm not asking you to," Steve bit back. "I'm telling you we've got a better chance stopping Ultron if we work together instead of against each other,"

Staring back at the man, Riley could feel her body beginning to tremble again. At just the thought of going out there fighting again, her whole body began to react. But she couldn't tell if she was feeling more fear, panic or excitement. All she knew was that right now she was filling with adrenaline.

"I've got a few things I need to take care of first," she told him, turning back to the edge of the building.

"We don't plan to stay sitting for long," Steve reminded.

"Then I'll be back when the sun's up," she assured.

Then Tony and Steve were left to watch Riley crouch down slightly, her eyes burning orange as her body flung into the air and the building shook with the force of her power. More glass shattered in the room behind them, but they barely paid any attention to the added destruction as they watched the woman soar into the air and disappear once again.

"I think you found someone who can argue more than me," Tony smirked, turning to Steve.

With a small nod, Steve shook his head with a long sigh. Tony was right about that.

* * *

Pietro and Wanda were standing in the same base they had fled days ago. The base they had spent so long, the base where they had suffered through all of their experiments. Except now, Strucker was no longer in charge. No man was in charge.

There were robots all throughout the warehouse they stood in, all moving and brought to life by Ultron himself.

"All of these are..." Wanda trailed off, standing close to her brother.

"Me," Ultron confirmed, now taking on the form of a larger and more sturdier robotic body. "I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony. They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside the rest of their heads..."

"Everyone's plan is not to kill them," Pietro shook his head.

"And make them martyrs? You need patience. Need to see the big picture," Ultron continued.

"I don't see the big picture, I have a little picture. I take it out and look at it every day," Pietro explained.

Ultron paused.

"You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records,"

"The records are not the picture."

"Pietro," Wanda warned, not wanting to be reminded.

"No, please," Ultron urged.

"We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big," Pietro explained, letting his mind wander back. "Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed and the second shell hits. But, it doesn't go off. It just...sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word..."

Wanda turned to Ultron, her eyes glowing red at just the thought of that memory and the person attached.

"Stark."

"We were trapped two days," Pietro nodded.

"Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, "This will set it off." We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us," Wanda explained.

"I know what they are," Pietro finished.

"I wondered why you two survived Strucker's experiments, now I don't," Ultron nodded. "The other survivor, you've broken apart from her,"

"She left," Pietro told him. "Months ago. She came back with them, but it wasn't for us."

"Were you close with her?" Ultron dug.

"Us three learned together," Wanda sighed. "Everything that changed within us, everything we couldn't control, we found out together in our cells. Side by side."

"She didn't want powers," Ultron nodded. "She didn't have a war to fight, she didn't have the hate inside, like you two do. The need for revenge, for justice. But she is still one of three survivors. I paid her a visit earlier, and all I saw was a waste of potential."

"She is with them, isn't she?" Pietro asked.

"She's sedating herself, hiding away from everything she was made for," Ultron explained, letting out a sigh. "It's such a waste,"

"Riley made her choice," Wanda snapped. "We know her thoughts of the Avengers, and yet she fought to help them, and once again left us here without a single thought."

"You're hurt by her," Ultron summed up. "She's betrayed you both. The Avengers fear her, they don't understand her and they see her as a creature rather than a person, and she still chooses to put her loyalty in them over you both. Her family."

"She is not our family," Wanda shook her head.

"A bond created at our lowest and weakest points creates a family," Ultron told her. "And she abandoned you both. Its obvious now, what she is. She's chosen to put her power against you rather than with you, and her choice to fight alongside the Avengers makes her our enemy now, too."

Wanda and Pietro shared a look. The girl knew her brother felt more strongly for Riley than she did, especially since they were able to interact much more than Wanda. It took months before Strucker allowed Wanda to see her brother and Riley, before she had enough control over her mind. But Riley and Pietro were able to converse and interact much sooner, testing their abilities and finally feeling a little less alone.

But Pietro felt betrayed too, just as Wanda did. This girl they had shared so much with had chosen their enemies over her friends, and Ultron was right.

"We will make it right," Ultron promised.

The twins looked back at the robot.

"You and I can hurt them," Ultron spoke to Pietro, then turning his glance to Wanda. "But _you_ will tear them apart from the inside."

* * *

The sun was a harsh force through Riley's eyelids when morning arrived, much sooner than she expected. She had returned hours ago to her motel room, checking every corner to make sure Ultron wasn't inside waiting. What worried her was his ability to go anywhere, through anything, and get to anyone. Which meant her paranoia was going to be running wild.

Riley had only intended to get a moment's rest once she kicked off her boots, but it had apparently turned into a three hour nap that left her feeling just as tired. And now that the sun was up, it meant she had somewhere to be.

Knowing it might be a while before she was in her own space again, Riley took the time to take a shower and prepare herself for a journey. Unlike her last endeavour with the Avengers, Riley didn't intend to be wearing her work uniform into battle.

Pulling on a sturdy pair of black jeans, Riley slid on her combat boots and made sure their laces were tight before she let out a huff of frustration. Her body had been aching ever since she left the Avengers tower, shaking with anticipation and adrenaline. It was always difficult to control, especially since her whole body wanted to explode with energy all the time, but the idea of a fight had her anxious to let some of it out.

Lighting a cigarette, Riley took a long drag before laying back against the bed once again. She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but for the first time in what felt like too long, she didn't care.

It was an hour later when she finally arrived at the Avengers tower once again. She had a black t-shirt on beneath her navy leather jacket, zipped up to shield her from the cold air. She was standing on the roof of a building just next to the tower, and with one hand balancing her paper coffee cup, she leaned down and felt the concrete beneath her shake as she launched into the air.

Riley always enjoyed being up in the sky, it didn't even matter if she could see a single thing or not. The weightless feeling was addictive, and she wished she could stay there forever. But soon enough her feet collided with the landing pad of the Avengers tower.

The whole team was inside, gathered in an office just upstairs from the communal living room she had barged into all those hours ago. She watched Thor rush down the stairs to stare over at her, obviously wondering what the sudden jolt against the tower was.

"Couldn't find the front door," Riley shrugged, walking into the room and watching as the rest of the team made their way downstairs as well.

Steve was the last the trail down behind them, looking over to her with a nod. Riley wondered if the Captain had faith in her returning after their conversation, but it seemed he was pleased they were all gathered here. There was finally a plan forming.

Riley didn't miss the suspicious looks from Natasha, Clint and Thor as they circled the room. This team very obviously didn't trust her, and the two spies in the room were more sceptical than the rest, but Riley really didn't care right now. She was here to find Ultron, not to make friends. Which seemed to work well with everyone else as well.

"This man," Steve announced, handing Riley a picture. "Look familiar?"

Accepting the photograph in her free hand, Riley looked down at the man, but she knew for a fact she had never seen him before in her life. Riley was always good with faces, and this man was a complete stranger.

"Who is he?" she shook her head, handing the photograph back.

"Ulysses Klaue," Bruce explained. "Black market arms dealer,"

"And we're admiring his face because?"

"He's one of Strucker's associates," Natasha chimed in. "Well, he _was._ Strucker's dead."

Riley's head snapped over to the redhead, her eyes wide.

"Dead?" she asked.

"Courtesy of Ultron," Clint folded his arms.

"Huh," Riley nodded, an odd feeling taking over her at the idea of that man really being dead. "Maybe we should let Ultron cull a few more assholes from the world while he's ahead,"

Steve looked over to her with a small frown and Riley could see Tony standing behind him, suppressing a slight smirk before shaking his head.

The Avengers weren't killers, no matter how terrible and heartless their enemy happened to be. That was something Riley disagreed on, among many other morals and principles held by these people.

"He's really dead?" she asked again.

Tony walked over and handed her the electronic tablet, opening the screen to the image of Strucker's dead body in a cell. Behind the lifeless body, written on the concrete walls in blood, was the word 'peace'.

"How theatrical," Riley muttered, handing Tony the tablet. "And what's this guy have to do with all of this again?"

"We'll brief you during transit," Steve assured, looking around to his team. "Suit up."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading guys! I hope you're enjoying!_ _Also, if anything is having trouble picturing Riley, I do actually have an actress in mind that has helped me visualise her when writing._ _Rachel Brosnahan is basically my muse for Riley, so I hope that helps. _

_Please do leave a review for me, I love reading and hearing from you all xx._


	7. Chapter 7

The team were given ten minutes to get themselves ready for wheels up, and since Riley had no preparation in mind, she opted to stand outside the jet looking down onto the city just as she had done in the early hours of that morning. The wind made her sway on the edge of the building and she couldn't help wondering if this might be the last time she actually saw this city.

Whatever they were about to head into, Ultron wasn't going to go down without a fight, and Riley was ready to fight until she couldn't anymore. The voice in her head kept repeating to her over and over again the words the robot had told her the night before. If Riley was created for a reason, if those experiments meant anything at all, then she was going to turn fulfil that purpose.

If Strucker wanted her to fight, she would fight, but it would be in the name of destroying everything he created.

"Do you ever _not_ smoke?" Bruce asked, stepping closer.

Riley turned to him, taking the almost finished cigarette from her lips and letting it dangle between her fingers.

"The day I don't feel like I have to, then I won't," she shrugged.

"Is it for...you know," he began, trying to find the right words. "Stress relief? Helps you calm down?"

Riley stared back at him for a moment, wondering if he was standing here to intimidate her or out of genuine curiosity.

"Yeah," she nodded, taking another drag. "I mean, it helps,"

"Never really took to it," Bruce shook his head. "There's a lot of other methods,"

"I don't do yoga," she warned. "If that's where you're going with this,"

Bruce smirked lightly.

"Not my thing either, seems to make me angrier,"

"So what _is_ your thing to keep the big bad green guy away?" she asked. "The music?"

"Music calms me down afterwards," he explained, folding his arms. "And I've got a, uh, a system for calming down enough to get back to myself. Something like a lullaby,"

"Work for you?" Riley asked, finally tossing her cigarette butt to the ground to crush beneath her boot.

"So far," he nodded. "Does that work for you?"

"Among other things," she replied, lifting her coffee cup before taking a sip.

Bruce watched her for a moment, noticing her longing looks toward the streets below.

"You still want to walk into this with us?"

"No," she shrugged, shaking her head. "But what's my other option? I can either watch everything fall to shit around me or take a chance to stop it, whatever that means. I always knew all of this shit would catch up to me, that I wouldn't really be free of Strucker and Hydra and all the bullshit that goes with it."

"I know what that's like," Bruce gave a nod. "Hiding from things you can't ever really escape. One way or another they get to you,"

Riley looked back at him with a small nod, the fainted sign of a smile on her lips. Maybe there was one person on this team that didn't completely hate her or her general presence. Maybe it was their mutual short tempers that had Bruce interested, but for whatever reason, he didn't seem to judge her as much as the others did.

Soon enough, the team was ready. Tony headed toward the front of the jet, settling into the pilot's seat as Natasha took her place in her own behind him. Everyone else spread out to their own areas, like school children in a classroom. Riley wandered around the back of the jet, just as she had last time she flew with the group, watching as the back ramp quickly closed and sealed them inside for the journey.

"We have many hours ahead yet," Thor told her as walked by. "Rest, prepare."

"It'd be nice to know what I'm preparing for," she called back.

At that, Steve picked up the Stark Tablet in his hands and wandered over to explain their mission and their game plan. They were in the air before Riley even realized, the jet flying off at a speed that just reminded her this was no ordinary aircraft.

Steve motioned for Riley to join him at the small table in the middle of the jet, waiting for her to take a seat at his side. Riley did so, carefully eyeing all of the equipment she stepped by on her way. Sitting down on the far too luxurious chair, she sat her coffee cup down and watched as Steve's nose scrunched up at the smell.

"Is that...that's not coffee, is it?" he asked, immediately smelling alcohol.

"It's whatever you want to imagine it is," Riley suggested, picking the cup back up and holding it close. "Let's say coffee, okay?"

"We're about to go over the mission plan and you're drinking," Steve scoffed. "And it's not even nine in the morning, by the way."

"Well, depending on where we're heading and timezone changes, it probably _is_ midday somewhere," she shrugged, taking a mouthful.

"You're unbelievable," Steve shook his head angrily.

"Holy shit you're uptight," Riley groaned, rolling her eyes. "Look, I know what calms me down, alright? And unless you want me causing some serious turbulence, you'll deal with it. I'm listening to the plan, so go ahead."

Steve glared back at her before taking a quick glance around at the rest of the team. It seemed they were all doing their best to ignore yet another argument between the two, a situation that was quickly becoming a common occurrence.

"It doesn't throw off your focus?" Bruce asked.

Riley looked over to him.

"No, if anything it balances me out," she explained. "At least, whenever I'm stressed. And right now, sitting here with you Cap, after the week I've had? Stressed doesn't even begin to cover it."

"I won't have you compromising everyone else-"

"The only thing compromising this mission is that fact I have _no_ idea what's going on, so how about we skip ahead to that?" Riley snapped.

With another moment of tense silence, Steve finally pulled the tablet close and opened it to the images he needed to explain. He didn't have to like the situation, and he didn't have to pretend to be okay with Riley's preferred methods of preparation, but he knew they all needed to get through this mission. It didn't matter their opinions and their feelings on one another, in the end, they shared the same goal.

Ultron needed to be destroyed, and they were going to do that together.

* * *

"You sure you don't want me to wait here with Dr. Green?" Riley asked, folding her arms as she watched the jet's exit ramp lower onto the dirt.

Bruce frowned as he sat against the window, looking out at the cargo ship his teammates were about to go walking into. He wished he could help, but none of them knew if the Hulk would even be necessary. The Other Guy was for the worst case scenario.

"We're sticking to the plan," Steve sighed, walking past her, shield in hand. "Come on,"

With a small huff, Riley pushed off the wall she was leaning against, trailing behind the leader. She looked back at Bruce with a small grin, wishing him luck with guarding the jet in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere off the African Coast, somewhere Riley didn't plan on visiting again. Not by the look of the salvage yard anyway.

As they began their walk toward the building, Riley began to wish she had packed a flask of some kind so she could get rid of the nervous tremor in her body. The idea of facing Ultron again was one thing, and she was more than prepared for that, but something told her he wouldn't be alone.

"Riley?" Steve asked, watching her closely. "You okay?"

"Having second thoughts?" she countered, flashing her orange eyes at him before returning to their normal shade.

"Try not to lose control," he advised. "We don't know what we're gonna be facing,"

"Always a comforting thing to hear last minute," Riley nodded.

Natasha and Clint trailed behind them as Thor and Tony gathered a more aerial view. As much as Riley didn't want to join any sort of team, she did feel more at ease knowing that they were all walking into this together. Whatever was going to come at them, they were going to fight together.

In the distance, they could hear shouting and screaming, and they knew they were in the right place. They were looking for the arms dealer, searching for the vibranium he was no doubt dealing, and it was becoming apparent that Ultron had beat them to him.

Steve's paced picked up immediately, now running. Natasha and Clint were close behind him, and Riley couldn't help but follow in their haste. She began to run behind them, hearing more cries from the ship and shattering glass. Splaying out her hands at her side, Riley shot up into the air to get ahead of the group on the ground, falling down toward the entrance just as Tony and Thor did.

Riley's body was full of adrenaline as her feet hit the ground, her eyes glowing orange and her hands trembling with anticipation. It always felt like this when she used her abilities - her body didn't want to stop.

"Stark,"

They heard the rough voice down the long, metal bridge corridor. It was dark inside and it reeked of oil and metal, just like the Tower back in New York. Just like Ultron. Riley turned to Tony who just continued to charge down the corridor, using his thrusters to speed up. Steve ran down the bridge to join him, following behind Thor.

"Tony Stark used to say that to me," the arms dealer spoke, his voice becoming clear as they closed in. "You're on of his."

"What? I'm not! You think I'm one of Stark's _puppets_?" Ultron roared.

Riley's heart began racing at the sound of his robotic, haunting voice.

"His hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!"

There was a brief pause before they heard Ulysses' cry of pain. His groan echoed through the metal room, and Riley was sure the man was close to death gathered by his response. She wouldn't be surprised if Ultron killed the man.

"Stark is a sickness!" Ultron roared.

Ahead, Tony had landed at the scene. Ultron was standing before him, Ulysses was at the bottom of the stairwell, barely conscious.

"Ah Junior," Tony began. "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

Then Riley got her first look at Ultron. The real Ultron. No longer contained in a broken, mangled piece of the Iron Legion. Now he was in a silver form, a robotic figure not too unlike Tony's, and this one wasn't going to break as easy as the last. He looked powerful, durable. And just as she felt, he was not alone.

Wanda and Pietro stood by the robot's side, their angry eyes staring back at the three man before them. The people they hated most in this world.

"If I have to," Ultron warned.

"We don't have to break anything," Thor cut in.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet," Ultron quipped.

"He beat me by one _second_ ," Tony groaned.

"Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" Pietro began, looking at the man with a bitter smile.

Tony looked back at him. They were surrounded by weapons, explosives, rockets - anything that could be used for large scale damage, and they were all very aware that none of it was here legally.

"This was never my life."

Riley kept her distance, standing back along the bridge, watching as they all spoke together. It was the calm before a storm, and Riley knew this back and forth wouldn't last too much longer.

"You two can still walk away from this," Steve told the twins.

"Oh, we will," Wanda bit back, her eyes beginning to glance over to where Riley stood.

Riley never thought she would be looked at by Wanda in such a hateful way, and yet here she was, receiving the same glare Tony did from the girl. They were sharing a look as if they were never friends, as if they hadn't gone through hell together, as if they were always meant to be on opposite sides of this war. As if they were enemies.

"I know you've suffered," Steve continued.

"Ugh, Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..." Ultron taunted.

Riley continued to hold Wanda's stare, noticing Pietro looking her way as well. There were two people in this world that Riley knew could understand why she always felt the way she did, who could understand what she had been through, what she had fought through to be alive. And now all Riley felt from them was hate.

Even from Pietro, who understood exactly why Riley didn't want to follow Strucker and Hydra's plan. It seemed Ultron had won them over.

"And you bring along a stray," Ultron continued, looking over at Riley as well. "The weak, unwilling, _failed_ experiment,"

"Nice to see you too," Riley muttered, stepping forward slightly.

"Is that what you plan to do? Use Strucker's lost lab-rat to help you save the day?" he asked.

"This doesn't have to be a fight," Steve warned again.

Ultron's gaze turned from the Captain back to Riley.

"You let them speak for you too?"

"Coward," Wanda seethed, her red eyes glaring back at Riley.

"Coward?" Riley bit back. "You're following the orders of a fucking _robot_ Wanda. Do you think he's going to help you? Do you think he gives a shit about you and your country-"

"You told me you were getting as far from this fight as you could," Pietro cut in. "I asked you if you were fighting alongside them,"

Riley looked back at him, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well, none of this was my first choice," she told him. "Especially not this. Pietro, you _know_ this isn't going to go the way you want,"

Pietro stared back at Riley with a frown, but his anger didn't mirror his sister's. It wasn't a hateful glare. It was full of frustration, betrayal and anger, but not hate. Not yet.

"Well isn't this a fun reunion," Ultron cut in before turning to Tony. "Is this going as well as you had planned?"

"What's the vibranium for?" Tony asked, ignoring his attempts for an argument.

"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan," Ultron spoke, snidely.

They all watched as Ultron's hand came up, clenching into a fist and glowing, suddenly pulled Tony in his suit forward with a beam of powerful energy and then shooting him back against the metal wall behind him. Then the other robots appeared. The Iron Legion, except they were no longer under Tony's control.

The robotic soldiers came for all of them, beginning a fight against each of the Avengers as Tony and Ultron flew up into their own battle. Riley contemplated joining them, trying to subdue Ultron, but her attention was once again taken by her old friends.

"Don't," Riley looked to Wanda warningly, lifting her hand in early defence. "Look what this freak is trying to do! _Don't_ be his puppet Wanda!"

"I'm no one's puppet!" Wanda bit back, her eyes glowing and her hands beginning to swirl with red aura.

Riley could feel people running around her, and just as she turned to see Steve advancing toward Wanda, his body was shot back to the ground by the a blast from the young twin's hand. Pietro had given Riley one last look before he ran off into the escalating battle, clearly fighting for Ultron's order.

They were officially on opposing sides.

Gunshots began ringing all throughout the room, on every level, as Klaue's men came to his aide. Riley could see Natasha taking down men and throwing their guns to the ground, and from high above, Clint was perched on the walkway shooting down their enemies with arrows, one by one. Everyone was defending their team, and yet Riley stood there doing nothing.

All she could do was stare back at Wanda who looked as if she wanted to fight, but held herself back. Pietro had gone pummelling into a stack of ammunition crates after messing with Thor's hammer, and he was currently gasping out in pain while Wanda's eyes glanced over to check on him.

"Everyone's going to get hurt Wanda," Riley continued. "People are going to die and I _know_ that isn't what you want!"

"You don't know what I want!" Wanda snapped.

As Riley prepared for another screaming match with the girl, she felt her body jolt as something pierced through her skin with force. Letting out a slight groan, Riley looked down at the hole now obvious in her navy jacket, slowly growing darker and wetter as her shoulder bled uncontrollably. Lifting her hand from her clothes, Riley looked at the deep red stain over her skin, her eyes now glowing orange.

Adrenaline was creeping its way back into her system, and this time there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it.

The entire metal, rusted ship began to shake and groan as Riley felt every object around her shift. She turned to the robots behind her, reaching out her hands and shooting them back into the metal wall with a force she hadn't felt herself wield before. From a distance, she focused her grip on the heads and a moment later watched as the metal wires disconnected from the body and rolled onto the ground.

Then it became a game of spotting robots and men with guns, tossing one after another into walls and breaking bones and metal in her path. Having telekinetic ability was always an advantage in battle, but Riley had never appreciated the fact she didn't have to move her feet a single step to do this as much as she did now. With blood rushing down her arm and her shoulder finally beginning to cause some intense pain, Riley settled for simply taking down every enemy with a beam of energy and forcing boxes of ammunition down onto their bodies.

She could feel Wanda trying to knock her down, watching the red beams travel through the air and fight against Riley's own. They had never fought each other before, they had never used their powers on one another, and they were both beginning to realise that they seemed to be quite a match for one another.

But there was a whole other power Wanda possessed that couldn't be met by Riley, or anyone.

"It's time for some mind games," Ultron's voice came through one of the many robotic soldiers, guiding Wanda.

"No, Wanda..." Riley's eyes widened, lowering her hands. "Come _on_ , don't do this for him!"

"Not for him," Wanda shook her head, stepping back.

Riley stepped away from her vantage point in the middle of the room, wading through all of the chaos to follow behind Wanda. Her eyes were still glowing with anger, and as she neared the girl in front of her, Riley raised her hands to shoot out and push Wanda into a small clearing. With a gasp of pain, Wanda steadied herself against the ground where she landed, trying to get up.

But there was an intense pressure keeping her down and when she looked up, she saw Riley standing by the door with her hands stretched out, a blurry trail of energy running from her hands to Wanda's body, holding her in place.

"You are truly one of them, aren't you?" Wanda seethed.

"I'm here to stop Ultron," Riley bit back. "And if that means stopping you and Pietro, then that's what I'll do,"

Wanda glared at her friend.

"It can't be stopped," the girl shook her head. "And _you_ can't help,"

"What did he promise you?" Riley asked. "I can guarantee you don't walk away from this with what you want."

"Your word means nothing to me,"

Riley stared back at her, continuing to hold her in place.

"You knew I would leave, I didn't betray you-"

"You were going to fight alongside us, help us protect the city, to stop people like Stark and the Avengers, and here you are-"

"I never wanted this, why would I want to _use_ it? I never agreed to any of this, especially not fighting alongside you,"

"I can see that now," Wanda continued to glare. "Instead you've joined them. What have _they_ promised you?"

"I'm not doing this for them," Riley shook her head.

"Then why do you care?" she asked. "If you don't care about them..."

"Because even you know that warping people's mind is another level of fucked up, Wanda."

Wanda lifted one of her hands, her fingers moving as a red mist appeared above them, and she shot it out against Riley's body. It wasn't enough to break Riley's hold, but it was enough to hit right against the bullet still lodged in her shoulder.

Letting out a groan of pain, Riley dropped one of her hands to clutch at her shoulder.

"Don't get in my way," Wanda warned.

"Don't do this," Riley shook her head. "Jesus, just _think_ Wanda!"

A moment later Wanda's body was up, fighting agains the weakened power Riley had over her. With glowing red eyes that mirrored her own, Wanda stared at Riley in silence for a moment, watching as Riley's hold crumbled underneath Wanda's and her pain.

Riley's chest was heaving as she backed into the wall, clutching at her shoulder and biting down on her lip. Wanda was holding her there with enough force to push her through the wall itself, but that wasn't what had Riley concerned. Instead, her focus was on Wanda's hand. Waving around just near her head, a string of red following as she moved it around tauntingly.

"Don't you _fucking_ dare," Riley grit through her teeth.

Wanda's lips had curled up into a small, hateful smirk as she moved her fingers one last time, sending the red mist into Riley's mind. The orange eyes turned red, opening widely, before fading back to orange, and slowly to normal.

Then Riley was left in a daze, alone in a small metal room, heart racing faster than it ever had before.

* * *

 _Hey guys! Thanks for continuing to read. Please leave a review with any thoughts xx_


	8. Chapter 8

Riley knew she was shaking, but she couldn't do anything to stop it. She could feel the floor beneath her vibrating, the walls jittering, but her body wasn't cooperating. She felt like she hardly breathe and she knew this wasn't real. She knew what she was seeing right now was absolutely all in her mind - but that did nothing to change what was happening.

"Honey, what have you done?"

Looking up into her mother's eyes, Riley felt her heart breaking. The woman stood there, exactly as Riley chose to remember her, healthy and glowing.

"I didn't mean to," she shook her head. "This isn't me mom, this isn't me! How do I fix it? How do I get rid of it?"

Riley held up her hands, shaking, begging.

"I wanted you to have a future, to go to college, to make something of yourself," the woman spoke softly, lovingly. "What have you done?"

Riley choked on her breathing, looking around as the room slowly faded away, shifting into a sunny field of flowers. The same field her mother used to walk through every afternoon, Riley's little hand tucked into her own, smiles on their faces. It was peaceful, it was happy.

In the distance, Riley could see herself running through the flowers and giggling wildly as her mother ran ahead. She could feel the warmth of the sun, the soft breeze of the gentle wind, and her mother running ahead with a bright smile on her face. Just the two of them, just like it had always been.

"I always knew you were smart Riley, _so_ smart," her mother continued, watching on as well. "But you can't see,"

Riley's bottom lip trembled at just the sound of her mother's voice and she could feel her eyes welling with tears. It was hard to focus on her words when she was so fixated on the memory playing out before her, but eventually she made sense of them.

"See what? Mom?" she asked.

Her mother looked back at her, the same peaceful grin still on her lips despite her sad words.

"Death," her mother replied. "It's coming,"

Riley watched as the little girl she watched began to look around in panic, searching for the woman she had been chasing. She could feel her heart breaking all over again, aching in her chest, as she remembered that exact feeling. The girl began to run around in fear now, yelling and screaming for her mother.

"Mom," Riley sobbed.

"There is so much death coming, my sweet girl," the woman gently explained. "We're going to meet again soon,"

Riley's eyes moved from the slowly fading memory to the woman in front of her.

"My...my death?"

"Everyone's death," her mother nodded, reaching out to run her hand along Riley's cheek. "It won't be long,"

"N-no," Riley shook her head, leaning into her mother's touch. "We're going to stop it,"

"You can't stop it,"

"I'm trying...trying to fix it," Riley pleaded. "I can help,"

"They're using you," another voice came in.

Riley's gaze turned to the man beside her mother. Strucker. In the same military uniform she last remembered seeing him in, with that same look in his eyes.

"You are their bait," he continued. "You don't have their trust,"

"I'm...no...I'm trying to help," Riley argued, still choking through tears. "Mom, please!"

"There's nothing you can do, my sweet," her mother sang lovingly.

And then she was gone, along with the peaceful memory that played out before her. Instead she was left with the nightmare she had been running from. The nightmare she had lived through for so long.

Strucker's lab. Watching on as he held her down on a table, white coats rushing around to restrain her with metal bounds around her ankles, wrists and head. Then the needles came. The endless serums being injected into her veins, burning through her body, and Strucker's voice screaming _again, again, again._

 _"_ Stop!" she screamed.

But this time no one could hear her. No one was talking. This was playing out just for Riley to watch on helplessly, reliving every single memory of Strucker's lab that she wished never existed. Over and over again, all while thinking of her mother's angelic voice. _Death is coming_.

* * *

The room was still shaking when Riley's mind finally let her go. She could feel the sheen of sweat that had covered her body as it continued to tremble, and by the sound of the entire ship she was still on, she was still pulsing energy uncontrollably. Reaching her arm out, Riley focused on the door ahead of her before letting out a pained groan and watching as it burst open. Fresh air swept into the room, and Riley finally felt some relief.

In the distance she could hear heavy boots running along the metal bridge, approaching her faster than she could comprehend. Doing her best to roll onto her back, Riley grit her teeth and lifted herself against the wall, sliding up into a standing position. She was in no condition to put up a fight right now, but if that's what it came down to, she was going to give it her all.

But she wasn't expecting the person running into the room to be Clint Barton.

"Whoa, whoa," Clint gasped, holding his arms up in surrender as he met Riley's glowing wild, orange eyes. "Not gonna hurt you, alright? You know me, same team here, okay?"

Same team.

 _You don't have their trust_.

Riley let her body settle, slumping against the wall and clutching at her shoulder once again.

"Having fun?" she asked.

Clint smirked slightly at the regular sass in Riley's voice, even though he could very clearly see she was injured and traumatised. Just like his three team mates he had already helped back to the jet. Whatever Wanda had put in their heads had gone a very thorough job.

"Always," Clint responded with a small grin, stepping closer. "Would rather get out of here though, huh? Let's go."

"I'm good," Riley shook her head, pushing herself off the wall.

But a moment later it became obvious how wrong that statement was. Clint caught her before she slammed back down onto the hard floor, throwing her good arm over his own shoulders to support her weight. Riley grunted in annoyance, accepting the archer's help as they made their way out of the small room.

There were bodies everywhere around the ship as they walked down corridors and doorways, mindful of their step over scattered weapons and robot remnants.

"Didn't get in on any of the fun, did you?" Riley asked.

"Mind games aren't my thing," Clint sighed, lifting Riley over a few holes in the bridge. "Looks like a hell of a trip though,"

Riley could feel pain searing through her shoulder at every move her body made, every step she took, every gasp she made. The bullet was still lodged in there, but Riley refused to think about it until she was far from this ship.

As they stepped out onto the dried mud leaning toward the jet, they could see chaos and smoke raging from the city.

"The girl got Banner," Clint explained, noticing Riley's slight panic. "Stark took care of it, they should be back soon,"

"On his own?" she asked.

"The rest of of the team weren't exactly in the right state of mind," he frowned. "She got 'em all,"

Riley could feel her body shaking once again, feeling the ground tremble beneath her steps. Clint could feel it radiating into his own body, watching as Riley focused on controlling her breathing. Her eyes were still glowing, but Clint chose to stay silent, knowing that she was very obviously on edge right now.

Wanda had made a mess of her mind. She had taken her most valued memory and combined it with her worst, forcing herself to watch over and over again. Riley had never felt so angry in her life.

When they made it back to the jet, the rest of the team were already inside, barely raising their head to look over at the two approaching. They looked just as messed up as Riley felt, and she wondered what Wanda had put their minds through. Natasha sat quietly, her eyes fixed on the floor in front, her whole body twitching as memories continued to flash by.

Thor was by the window, his arms leaning against the wall as his head hung long between them, lost in thought. Steve mirrored his expression, sitting in the middle of the jet with his head in his hands.

It didn't take long before Tony and Bruce arrived as well, the scientist clinging to Iron Man as they landed just outside the jet. He looked ruined, mentally and physically. Bruce was barely awake, staggering up the ramp with Tony's help once the suit had dissembled.

"You're okay," Tony told him, helping him over to the bench Bruce called his own. "Just rest up, okay?"

None of them said a word as the back of the jet closed up, leaving them all to figure out what was next. There was no plan for this. They hadn't prepared for this. They had all the supplies in the world for any physical damage any of them took, but they had nothing to fix mental damage. Wanda had clawed out things in their minds they never wanted to face, and now it was all they could think about.

Riley sat herself down at the back of the jet as usual, biting down on her lip as she began to drag off her jacket. Underneath, there was a very clear hole in her black t-shirt, giving Riley an indication of where she had to go. The bullet needed to come out.

Clint had taken control of piloting the jet, carefully lifting them into the air and flying away from the city. The whole world had the Avengers in their sights now, having just witnessed the Hulk terrorising an innocent city. No one would be paying attention to whatever Ultron was going to do next.

Tony stood back to gather his thoughts, one hand running over his beard and resting on his chin as he shook his head in disbelief. Riley had been right when she told them they wouldn't be prepared for the Maximoffs. Especially Wanda.

Feeling the jet begin to tremble and their supplies starting to rattle, Tony looked over at Riley who was currently wincing in pain with blood spilling down her fingers. Frowning at the gory sight, Tony grabbed a box of medical supplies and wandered over. He could hear how frantic her breathing was, and although he knew she was in pain, he needed her to calm down instead of tearing their jet to pieces.

"Hey, whoa, probably not the best way to do that," Tony advised, kneeling down.

"Fucking hell," Riley groaned, pulling her fingers away from the wound on her shoulder. "I need scissors,"

"Uh, I really don't think scissors-"

Riley cut him off with a cry of pain, her eyes illuminating as she once again sent a ripple of energy throughout the aircraft. She didn't mean to, and she could feel what she was doing, but nothing was going to stop it until she got this bullet out.

"Alright, I can...I can-"

"Don't touch me," Riley growled, applying pressure to her shoulder once again.

Tony looked over his shoulder at Bruce who was already dead to the world, his body barely getting him back to the jet awake. Being the doctor with surprisingly steady hands, Bruce was normally the one patching up his teammates whenever they needed it. But right now, he was off duty.

Natasha was the next option, having stitched herself up plenty of times before, but from the look on her face it seemed Wanda's spell was still working through her mind.

"You're not getting that out with one hand," Tony warned. "You're making it worse,"

"Tony," Clint called out from the pilot's seat. "Incoming from Hill,"

Turning, Tony looked between Clint and Riley, knowing that if he didn't somehow help her get the bullet out they were all going to suffer through a very rocky ride to wherever they were heading. But before he had a chance to debate with himself, he felt someone approaching from behind.

"I can do it," Steve offered, his voice slightly trembling as he tried to shake off his earlier visions.

Both Riley and Tony looked up at the man nervously, wondering if that would be a good idea. Anytime Steve and Riley were left with one another longer than a few seconds, an argument would always break out.

"Go take the call, it's important," Steve continued.

Tony stood up, pointing to the medical supply kit at Riley's side before he hurried away. That left only Riley to stare up at the man with a small glare, ready to refuse any help he was about to offer. Steve knelt down then, making himself comfortable at her side as he reached forward to inspect the wound. Riley pulled away slightly, unable to stop herself.

"I'm trying to help," Steve insisted, frowning.

"I don't want your help," she bit back, only half committed to putting up an actual fight.

"And I don't want you losing control right now," he warned, staring back into her orange eyes. "So I'm getting this out,"

Riley watched him carefully as he began to peel back the material of her shirt, finding the bullet wound. He reached over to pull the supply box close, searching through it until he found a pair of small metal retractors. Sitting them on Riley's lap, he pulled off his leather gloves and replaced them with plastic ones, reaching out to hold the incision open.

Letting out a hiss of pain, Riley squeezed her eyes closed as Steve pressed an antiseptic pad against her skin to clear away the blood and sterilise the wound. The jet shook once again, but Riley began to breathe evenly and loudly, trying to keep herself calm.

"Hurry up," she pleaded softly.

Steve set out with the retractors, inserting them into the wound and feeling around the for the metal clink of the bullet inside. Riley bit down on her lip and groaned in pain, feeling the grab of the bullet and the pull of it through her flesh.

The moment the bullet was out, Riley could feel a wad of cotton pads being pressed firmly against her shoulder to stop the bleeding. She must had already lost a pint or two since being initially shot, a little more wasn't worrying her.

"Almost done," Steve whispered, his eyes focused on tender skin as he pulled out a needle and medical thread.

Riley kept her eyes closed as Steve stitched her shoulder, trying to even out her breathing as she felt the rattle of the jet. Once that was done, Steve pulled off the plastic blood-covered gloves and set about bandaging around Riley's shoulder, keeping it tight and firm to stop any further bleeding.

"Okay," he sighed, leaning back.

"Shit," Riley groaned, looking down at her shoulder. "I bet you enjoyed that,"

"I don't enjoy seeing anyone in pain," he argued. "And you're welcome, by the way."

Riley glared up at him, but before she could say anything else, Strucker's figure appeared behind him. Her eyes widened as a gasp escaped her lips, the figure disappearing, but leaving Riley's heart racing.

The jet continued to rock, causing everyone on board to look over at her in concern. It didn't matter that the bullet was out anymore, because it seemed her body was still recovering from Wanda's wrath instead.

"Jesus," she sighed, squeezing her eyes closed again. "I can't...I can't stop,"

Steve's brows pulled together in concern, his hand reaching out to grab at Riley's other shoulder.

"Hey, focus," he instructed softly. "You're okay,"

"I know," she muttered.

"Just breathe, alright? You're safe here."

Riley bit out a small laugh, shaking her head as she opened her eyes to Steve's confused expression.

"None of us are safe," she insisted. "Doesn't matter where we are or where we go."

Steve stared back at her sadly, knowing she was ultimately right.

"But _this_ is real, okay? None of what she put in your head is real," he assured.

"Fuck!" she groaned, squeezing her hands into fists as every item around her went flying into the walls, shattering.

The whole team watched on, their eyes full of panic.

"You need to...you have to sedate me," Riley told him, her body trembling. "Those tranquilliser darts, please tell me you have some of those,"

"We're not using those-"

"I'm going to bring this thing down!" Riley cut him off, shaking her head. "I c-can't stop it, okay? Not now. Just fucking do it, or we won't get anywhere."

Turning her head to Natasha, Thor and Tony, Riley pleaded again.

"Do it,"

* * *

When the jet finally landed hours later, the team seemed to finally be waking up. Natasha was still beyond shaken up, but she was more alert now, more herself. Bruce had woken up an hour ago, immediately putting on his headphones and keeping to himself for the rest of their journey.

Riley was in her usual corner, knocked out cold, with a wad of blankets beneath her head as a make-shift pillow. In the end, a tranquilliser injection had been their only option. Riley told them she couldn't control herself, not after what Wanda had done, and they knew she was being honest. If they were going to get to any sort of safety, they needed the jet to actually fly without Riley tearing it apart without even trying.

"How long does that thing last?" Clint asked, looking over at her as he spun around in the pilot's seat.

Tony shrugged, shaking his head.

"Last time it lasted a few hours, so..."

"So she'll wake up soon," the archer nodded. "Guess someone better bring her up. I doubt she'll be her normal cheery self if she wakes up in here in the middle of the woods on her own,"

"Where exactly _is_ this?" Tony asked, looking out the windows.

Clint smirked and walked ahead of him, moving over to Natasha's side to help her up. Steve followed behind them, watching closely as Bruce stood and dawdled along beside them. He knew that being the Hulk took a toll on the scientist, but this time it seemed to do more than usual. Guilt was clouding over the man.

Thor walked down toward the jet's exit, stopping to lean down and lift Riley into his arms.

"She may still be a risk," Thor turned, looking to Tony.

"That's why you're carrying her, big guy," Tony grinned.

Thor frowned as the man walked by, leaving Thor to walk out and follow behind them all. He looked around at the empty paddocks that surrounded them, bushland everywhere, and a quaint farmhouse just up ahead.

"What is this place?" he asked, looking around.

"A safe house?" Tony shrugged. "According to Barton,"

"Let's hope so," Clint added.

They all began their walk up toward the house, wondering what they were about to head into. Clint and Natasha seemed to know what was going on, but the others looked lost and confused. It seemed like they were barging in on a random family in the middle of nowhere on their farm, and it wasn't too far from the truth.

Just as they made it up the small hill, standing outside the house, Riley began to groan and twist around in Thor's arms.

"What...what the f-"

"Hey, bad words are off limits in here, got it?" Clint turned, looking directly at the girl.

Riley shifted up, looking around to see they were outside of a house. Then her head turned again, leaving her face inches from Thor's. The God was staring back at her with caution, trying to predict her next move, and wondering if she was about to attack in anger.

"Jesus, how long have I been out?" she asked, kicking her legs as indication to put her down.

Thor slid her down out of his arms gently, a hand on her back as she stumbled for a moment.

"Few hours," Steve provided.

"Where are we?" she wondered, her hand immediately going up to her injured shoulder.

"That's what we're finding out," Tony mumbled, stepping into the house behind Barton and Romanoff.

The others trailed in behind him, but Riley stayed where she was, just outside the door.

"Honey, I'm home," Clint called out.

They all looked to the archer in confusion, unable to process his words as a heavily pregnant woman entered the room.

"Hi," Clint greeted. "Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead."

They all watched on as the two shared a kiss, Clint's hand going down to cradle the woman's bump. This was unexpected, to say at the least. Everyone except Natasha looked surprised, but none more so than Tony.

"This is an agent of some kind," he muttered.

"This is Laura," Clint introduced.

Riley observed the whole interaction from the door, not wanting to involve herself. She didn't know these people well enough to be apart of this, and when Clint's children began to run into the room as well, Riley stepped back. Turning toward the steps of the porch, she leaned down to sit against them, rubbing her head.

Whatever was in those tranquillisers really did their job, but they were less than pleasant to shake off.

As she looked up at the meadows around her, Riley felt herself being pulled back to her earlier visions from Wanda's spell.

 _Death. It's coming._

And it seemed Riley wasn't the only one with Wanda's visions still on their mind.

"Thor," Steve called.

The front door swung open as the God walked out, stepping by Riley and onto the clearing outside the house. She looked between him and Steve, wondering what had happened in all of five minutes that caused them to barge out like this.

"I saw something in that dream," Thor began. "I need answers. I won't find them here."

Riley watched on as the man spun his hammer, launching off into the sky. Riley wondered what Wanda had forced Thor to see, but given the God's response, she was glad she only had her own nightmares to worry about.

She heard Steve sigh heavily behind her, taking a few steps closer and sitting himself down by Riley's side. He looked tired. Almost weak.

"So," she huffed. "What's the plan now?"

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! And thanks to the lovelies who leave reviews, I really do appreciate every word! Let me know what you guys think xx_


	9. Chapter 9

It had been almost two hours since they had all arrived at the Barton's farmhouse, and Riley had yet to step a foot inside. It didn't feel right to be in Clint's home, especially not around his family and his little children. In this group, in this arrangement they had, she was the outsider.

Riley wasn't a hero who had fought alongside these people for years, who had risked her life for each and every one of them. She was not a superhero, and she was not going to pretend just for the sake of this mission.

Despite how badly she needed to pee.

"I was starting to think you took off as well," Steve's voice called behind her.

Riley had been sitting among the long grass for a while now, leaning back to look up at the clear sky above. It had been a long time since she had a view like this. No buildings, no planes, no sign of anyone else being around. It felt cruel now to be enjoying such a moment considering Wanda had well and truly tainted the pleasant memory she did have of being among nature with her mother.

But it was calming, and since Riley hadn't brought along a flask of whiskey, she was desperate for anything that could soothe her.

"I don't even know where we are," she told him honestly, turning to see him stepping closer.

Steve had swapped out the top half of his Captain America uniform for a blue t-shirt and was carrying over a small brown bag, holding it out for Riley to take when he got close enough. Cautiously, Riley reached out to take it from him, leaning up from her position.

"Is this a bag of weed? You read my mind," she quipped, knowing Steve would make that usual unimpressed face in response.

Which he did, before letting out a sigh and folding his arms across his chest.

"Laura sent you out some lunch," he explained, watching her open the bag and pull out a sandwich.

"Uh, okay," Riley nodded, looking back up at him. "Thanks,"

"Don't thank me," he shrugged. "There's plenty more inside,"

"I'm good," she insisted, taking a bite of the sandwich a moment later.

It wasn't until food was right in front of her that she realized how hungry she was. She couldn't remember the last time she ate and as she swallowed her first bite, she felt her stomach grumble in response. Hungry.

Steve watched for a moment before he stepped around her, wandering over to a stack of wood that needed to be split. There was an axe lying off to the side, waiting to be used, and Steve would do anything right now rather than sit still and dwell on his thoughts. Memories of the war and Peggy Carter were still fresh in his mind, and he had a feeling they weren't going to leave him anytime soon.

The rest of the team were inside resting, pulling themselves back together. Clint played with his children, took moments with his wife, and almost forgot about the fact they were in the middle of a battle he didn't know how to win. They were all in a lull right now, and Riley could feel that it wasn't going to last long.

As she finished off the last of her sandwich, she could hear the heavy sound of the axe swinging down against blocks of wood, turning to see Steve forming a pile of ready-to-burn pieces. Here was their team leader, minus the stars and stripes, acting like any other ordinary citizen hiding away in the woods.

"When are we heading back out?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"I think everyone needs a bit of a rest," Steve explained. "And we need to figure out what the next move is,"

"Right, so..." Riley trailed off. "Like, a few hours?"

"If you've got any ideas for a plan, I'm all ears," he huffed, lifting the axe up high once again before swinging it down into the wood.

Riley watched on with a tired sigh, wondering how long they were going to be stuck at this farmhouse. It was a peaceful place, she had no doubt about that, but she knew they couldn't stay here too long. It was all well and good to play happy family, but it was far from realistic.

"Thor coming back?" she asked.

"Don't know," Steve shrugged, moving the wood and replacing it with new blocks.

Over and over again, Riley watched as Steve separated the logs of wood and threw them into a pile. She could hear the man's breathing picking up as he hauled block after block of wood into the clearing in front of him, until she finally realized she was simply sitting there staring. When the next few pieces of wood had been split in half, Riley moved her hand out and cleared the way for Steve, sending the logs through the air carefully to sit on top of the rest.

Steve turned to her after they settled on top of the pile, nodding in appreciation.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not causing an earthquake right now, so yeah. Better."

"Couldn't have been easy keeping control with what she put in your head," Steve shook his head. "She's powerful."

Riley stared back at him for a moment.

"Wanda doesn't make up scenarios and just slip them into your mind. You know that, don't you?" she asked, shaking her head. "Everything she put in there? It's all real."

"It's a spell,"

"A spell that feeds off memories and thoughts that are _already_ in your head," she continued. "I'll take a guess that whatever she showed you didn't involve a stranger, did it?"

Steve's jaw clenched at the memory of his vision.

"And I'll also guess that whatever you saw has already ran through your mind before, hasn't it?" she pushed. "Wanda doesn't make it up, she just makes you see it, whether it's happened or it's going to. And I guess that's what sent Thor into his search."

Riley watched the man stare back at her, obviously planning to argue, but knowing he had nothing to fight back with. Steve didn't want Riley to be right, but she was. Wanda didn't show any of them anything they hadn't already seen or feared before.

"Did she tell you that?" Steve asked.

"You overhear a lot when you're locked in a cell next door," Riley shrugged. "But hey, don't take my word for it, none of you trust me anyway."

"You don't exactly give us a reason to," Steve reasoned. "And you're pretty clear on how you feel about us."

"Am I now?" she bit back. "Is that why I'm sitting here in the middle of nowhere with you all while we play happy farmers?"

Riley turned to the approaching footsteps she could hear behind them, watching as Tony wandered down from the house, eyeing them both cautiously. Even the genius himself looked far from the man Riley was used to seeing.

"Another friendly conversation, I assume?" Tony began.

"Aren't they all?" Riley muttered. "Honestly, I don't know how long I can just sit here at this fu-"

"Excuse me?" a little voice called.

Riley cut herself off immediately, turning to the small child now by her side. The little girl looked no older than five or six, pigtail braids running over her shoulders as she stared up at Riley with a shy grin.

"Um," Riley trailed off, looking to the two men.

"What's up Little Barton?" Tony asked, noticing Riley's obvious discomfort.

"My mama asked if you can come inside please," the girl announced, her eyes still stuck on Riley.

"M-me?" Riley asked softly.

"Uh huh," the girl nodded. "We made you another sandwich. I helped cut it for you."

Riley nervously looked back at Tony, hey eyes screaming out for help. She was never great with children, but she had very little experience with them since gaining her abilities. The last thing she wanted was to send the girl screaming in fear if she lost control of flashed her orange eyes out of panic.

"She'll be right in," Tony assured. "Why don't you run ahead?"

"I gotta show you where to go," the girl shook her head, extending her hand for Riley to take.

"Oh, um...sure," Riley stuttered, slowly taking the girls hand and being tugged along.

Tony and Steve watched as Riley was lead away from them and toward the stairs to the front porch, noticing her nervous body stiffening each time the girl pulled her along. Steve couldn't help grinning in amusement at the sight, turning back to the blocks of wood positioned in front of him. He hadn't even noticed Riley moving them there, and when he looked up at Tony, he was grinning just the same.

Neither of them had really spoken about the fact Riley had joined them on this mission, but it seemed they were both adjusting to it.

"She's not so bad," Tony told him. "Y'know, when you look past her...everything."

Steve watched as Tony picked up the other axe resting by the pile, throwing it around between his hands.

"No, she's not so bad," Steve agreed. "When she wants to be."

"So you piss her off," Tony shrugged. "Hate to break it to you Cap, but you _do_ happen to have that affect sometimes,"

With a sigh of frustration, Steve brought the axe down and split another log of wood in half. Without Riley, he leaned down to pick up each piece and toss them onto the pile he was growing.

"She's unpredictable," Steve argued.

"We all are," Tony shrugged.

Steve sighed, knowing he was right, and it angered him more than it should have. Individually, they were all unpredictable, but as a team they needed to know each other's next move. They needed to work together, better than they already did. There couldn't be any more lies or secrets.

But Steve was sure that bringing up that fact right now would only cause an argument. Again.

Instead he just looked over at Tony, glancing down at the axe in his hands before looking to the eyes staring back at him.

"Are you going to help?"

* * *

Riley walked down the halls of the house slowly, being pulled along by the little girl, her eyes scanning the walls of photographs and the floors littered in toys. It looked like happy home, one that any child would love to grow up in. One that she shouldn't be in.

"Mommy," the girl called out as they walked into the kitchen. "I got her,"

Laura turned where she stood by the sink, running her hand over her large baby bump. Clint stood by her side, watching Riley closely, but there was a small grin on his lips. He didn't seem threatened or concerned at all.

"I hope you _invited_ her instead of dragging her," the woman sighed, looking to Riley. "Hi, I'm Laura. The little usher there is Lila. Noticed you weren't at the table for lunch,"

"Steve bought me a sandwich," Riley nodded. "Thank you...for that,"

"Thought you might be a little hungry," Laura smiled, gesturing to the plate on the table and the glass of lemonade right beside it.

Riley looked at the setting in front of her, then at the little girl at her side, and finally back at the couple.

"You can sit, you know?" Clint chuckled lightly. "Don't look so scared,"

Laura nudged her husband, giving him a frown.

"Everyone else has had a chance to sit and get their energy back, now you go ahead," she encouraged. "But if you'd rather not be here, that's okay. I _do_ have way too much lemonade though, so if you stay here, you can get quite a few refills."

Riley let a small smirk crawl onto her lips as she eyed the sandwich again, slowly moving to take her seat at their table. Laura smiled and continued to arrange what looked like a tray of vegetables, busying herself as if she hadn't cooked for guests in a very long time. Which was probably true, considering this whole place was off the grid.

It could have been the whole 'nesting' thing kicking in also. With so many people in her house right now, Laura wanted them all to be comfortable and cared for. Clint knew better than to argue with his heavily pregnant wife, and to be honest, he was liking the idea of sharing this part of his life with the team. Which is why it felt so odd to Riley that she was in this house right now, with his family.

"Is it good?" Lila asked, watching Riley take a bite of the sandwich.

Clint watched Riley look to his daughter with a nervous smile, nodding as she continued to eat. He could see she was uncomfortable, but there was no need to be. Riley was just a kid, really. She didn't ask for any of this to happen, and she didn't ask to be the person it made her. After explaining the girl to his wife, Laura couldn't stand the idea of Riley isolating herself.

"Really good," Riley assured the little girl, smiling to herself as she watched Lila nod shyly.

"Honey, let her eat," Laura instructed, beginning to prepare yet another sandwich.

"Oh, no it's fine-" Riley began, shaking her head as she stuffed the rest of the sandwich into her mouth.

"There's plenty," Laura assured. "Believe me, with these two kids and his appetite? There's no shortage of food."

Riley watched as the couple began to lovingly bicker among themselves, reaching out to grab her lemonade and take a few sips. It felt like she had stepped into a different reality. One where nothing bad ever happened, there was no fight they had to march into, nothing but peace and quiet. This whole house was full of love and family, and as out of place as Riley felt, it was all so comforting.

"There you go," Laura slid another plate in front of Riley, sighing as she lowered herself down to sit across the table.

Clint began to tickle Lila over by the side, chasing her out of the room and around the house. All they could hear was delighted squeals and giggling, and Riley could see the content smile on Laura's lips as she poured them both a fresh glass of lemonade.

Riley began to eat the new sandwich, now her third serving, as Laura gulped down half a glass of the lemonade.

"I hope he's not being too... _Clint_ ," Laura laughed.

"No, he's been fine," Riley assured with a smile.

"And the rest of them?" she continued. "Clint said you aren't really on board with the whole Avengers thing."

"I'm not really on board with any sort of team," Riley shrugged, finishing her bite.

"I think they really appreciate your help. Clint said you had their backs in Sokovia, and you had plenty of chances on this mission to go against them, and you haven't."

Riley considered her words for a moment, taking another bite and washing it down with some lemonade. Sure, there were chances to leaven them behind and go off on her own, but she wouldn't really get far without a plan. And she had nothing.

Never in her life did she ever have to sort out a plan of attack or a way to win a battle. Before all of this, she was a twenty year old student cramming lecture notes the hour before an exam. She wasn't meant for this world of heroes and wars.

"I'm more of a distraction," she explained quietly. "Wanda and Pietro, the...the other two, they can't focus well when I'm around. They hate me more than they want to help Ultron, all because I'm part of all this."

"You're more than a distraction," Laura shook her head. "Is that what you think you are to them?"

 _You are their bait._

"They don't trust me," Riley shook her head. "Which is fine, because I'm not exactly their biggest fan."

Laura frowned.

"You wouldn't be here if they didn't trust you,"

"Well, maybe not everyone feels that way," Riley sighed. "Thank you for the sandwiches. I'll um, I can clean these."

Laura watched as Riley stood from the table, walking over to the sink and beginning to scrub the plate with soap as if she were one of Laura's children. A smile crept onto Laura's face as she watched on quietly, noticing how young Riley really was.

"You've got lovely manners," Laura chuckled as Riley began to wipe the dishes with a towel. "Your parents raised you well."

Riley let a small smile break onto her lips.

"My mom always said if I'm someone's guest, I need to eat every bite they serve and clean up every crumb,"

"She sounds like an impressive woman. I still have to tell my kids to at least take their plates to the sink after dinner before running off. I try to be strict, but I want them to enjoy being kids. Clint's actually more strict than I am about some things, believe it or not. Was your mom the strict one?"

Riley continued to wipe down the dishes, moving her glance from Laura to concentrate on every soap bubble she could see.

"She was the _only_ one," Riley told her softly, shrugging.

"Oh," Laura's eyes widened. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. He's out there somewhere, not that I give a sh-..." she trailed off, remembering the 'no swearing' rule.

"You've never met him?"

"Never needed to,"

"But you'd always be wondering, wouldn't you?"

"I'm always wondering a lot of things," Riley sighed, beginning to lift the plates back into their shelves.

"Mom!" Lila squealed, running into the room out of nowhere.

At the sudden noise, the plates slipped from Riley's hands and shattered against the ground. The little girl let out a scream in fear, and Riley crouched down against the kitchen bench and scrambled to contain the sharp pieces that spread around the floor.

"Hey, it's okay!" Laura soothed, holding her daughter close.

"I'm sorry!" Riley pleaded, moving to gather all the pieces of the plates, cutting herself in the process.

Clint rushed into the room a moment later, followed by Natasha and Steve rushing through the door, becoming an audience to the less-than-threatening moment.

"It's fine, they aren't exactly fine China," Laura shook her head, a smile on her lips.

"Been in here five minutes and tearing it apart, huh?" Clint joked, earning himself another frown from his wife.

"I-I didn't..." Riley stuttered, feeling her adrenaline rise.

They watched on as the house began to rattle, the glasses in the cupboards beginning to clink against one another. Riley swore at herself, begging to gain control, but her hands were balled into fists by her side and her body had gone with stiff. She could feel it now. They were looking back into her glowing eyes.

Lila ran over to Natasha, jumping into her arms as the red-haired woman stared back at Riley warningly. There was only one person in this world that was equally as protective of this family as Clint, and that was Natasha.

"Take a deep breath," she instructed.

Riley could hear her words, but it did nothing. Not with the eyes on her, not with the panic in her body. She shouldn't have stepped into this house, she shouldn't have let Laura think she was safe to be around.

"I'll clean-"

"I've got it," Clint called back, grabbing a dust pan. "Go walk it off,"

There was no threat or ice in the archer's words, but the urgency was clear to Riley. She was unstable, and that was dangerous to have in the house. She couldn't be here.

Riley rushed out of the room a moment later, running out onto the porch and jumping down the stairs to the grass. The ground was shaking beneath her as she marched away from the house, trying to get as much distance as possible as her chest heaved.

"Riley!" Steve called out, stepping out into the porch.

"I'm going," Riley nodded, putting her hands up. "I'm going,"

"Slow down!" he continued, following her footsteps down into the field. "You haven't done anything wr-"

Riley began running along the grassy field now, picking up an alarming pace before shooting up into the sky, soaring up over the stretch of trees that surrounded the property. The ground rattled and moaned in response, the trees creaking loudly as they swayed in her wake. Steve stopped where he was, hands on his hips, and his head hung low in disappointment.

A moment later, he turned to the sound of footsteps approaching on the dirt path.

"Please tell me she's gone to pick up some takeout," Tony sighed, looking up into the sky where Riley had now disappeared.

But Steve's couldn't say a word in response. Instead, he stood there with his mouth hanging open at the sight of the man by his side who was dressed in his usual black attire, sans leather jacket.

"There's a reason we had a a screening process in place for any new recruits, Captain."

Steve just shook his head, a small and somewhat relieved smile creeping onto his lips.

"Fury."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading guys! And thank you for your kind reviews! Please do let me know what you think xx_


	10. Chapter 10

_"Look, I'm not saying that Bruce Banner is our biggest threat. I'm just saying that the heroes that we're putting our trust in aren't always going to be the good guys."_

 _"So you're saying they're, what? They're our enemies?"_

 _"I think that we can't have one without the other, yes. Just because the Hulk has the power to protect us doesn't mean he always will. That goes for all of them."_

 _"Well the footage from yesterday still has this country reeling tonight as our government heads into damage control..."_

Riley stared up at the television screen in the corner of the bar, her attention fading as the topic of discussion began to move on. They had been playing footage of the Hulk in Johannesburg over and over, and within the past hour that Riley had been sitting at the end of the bar, she had witnessed the same replay five times. The Avengers were on the world's radar, and that's exactly what Ultron wanted.

They were his distraction. They were his red herring.

Gulping down the last of her drink, Riley motioned for the bartender to pour her another glass, reaching into her pocket to pull out the remaining cash she had. It had taken her almost twenty minutes to find the small time from Clint's farm, and even when she made her way through the Main Street and into the bar, she had no idea where this really was.

"We close in two more hours," the bartender advised, watching as Riley looked at the clock on the wall. "Thought I'd let you know. You seem like you're settled in for the night."

"I'm settled in for as long as this buys me," she sighed, throwing a fifty dollar bill onto the bar.

"Well, if you buy the good label stuff it'll get you another half hour," he suggested with a chuckle. "But the lower range stuff? That'll take you right to closing time."

Riley laughed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Low range whiskey takes up half my diet, so pour away."

The man began pouring the glass of whiskey, topping off the glass with a few ice cubes as he noticed Riley's eyes locked on the television screen. The Hulk was everywhere, and interviews with government officials and politicians began flooding every news channel available.

Months ago, Riley would have watched on and agreed with them as they criticised the Avengers and their actions. But right now, knowing what they were dealing with and how little control they had over everything unfolding, Riley found herself feeling very different. Bruce wasn't to blame for what happened, and he was certainly punishing himself enough without the news jumping onto it as well.

The world had no idea what was really going on.

"Crazy, isn't it?" the man shook his head, beginning to polish a tray of glasses.

Riley nodded as she took a mouthful of the whiskey, feeling it burn as it ran down her throat. She sat the glass down, tapping at it mindlessly with her finger while staring up at the television.

"They don't know what's going on," she shook her head, watching another politician chime in for an interview.

"No one does. The Avengers keep to themselves and let everyone else deal with the fallout," the man shrugged. "Where are they now? They should be the ones doing a press conference and cleaning this shit up."

Riley pulled her eyes away from the screen and to the man in front of her, noticing how he shook his head and glared up at the television. She knew that there were plenty of people out there who disliked the Avengers, but she hadn't realised how big that population had become. These days, more and more people were voicing their opinions of the heroes.

After New York, the world had been divided. Why were heroes exempt from the law? Every war they fought seemed to be brought on by their own actions, after all. Especially the downfall of SHIELD. That's when the world really began to pay see how the cons of the Avengers far outweighed the pros. At least, that's how Riley had thought.

"Not a fan of the Spandex Circus?" Riley asked, lifting her glass to finish the whiskey.

The man laughed, shaking his head.

"You could say that,"

Before Riley had to even ask, the man was pouring more amber liquid into her glass, topping it off once again. She watched the ice cubes rise in the glass, clinking together softly and swimming around invitingly. She had gone too long without a drink, and she was finally feeling her edge begin to shed.

"How about you?" the man asked, screwing the cap back on the bottle and setting it down.

Riley shrugged, swirling her glass around.

"I haven't drank nearly enough to answer that,"

"Oh come on, it's a simple yes or no," he persuaded, leaning against the bar. "Do you think they're actually helping?"

Riley's eyes flickered toward the television screen once again for a moment before settling back on the man in front of her.

"Well, if you ask the people they saved-"

"I'm asking _you,"_ he insisted with a cheeky grin. "Did they save you?"

Suddenly, Riley was back in Strucker's lab, sitting on the cold concrete floor in her cell. She could see the thick metal bars that surrounded the small area and remembered staring at the door just metres from her confines. On good days, she would imagine being saved. Maybe the police would be monitoring Strucker's hideout, maybe they were planning an attack, maybe someone knew about all of this. She remembered thinking of the Avengers.

As much as she hated them, as much as Wanda and Pietro spoke obsessively about their demise, Riley had a tiny spark of hope that they would come. After all, that was their job. They saved people from these kinds of things. Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"No," she told him, staring down at her glass.

"Well, there's your answer."

Riley considered that for a moment, taking another mouthful and swirling it around in her mouth before swallowing, her lips tingling from the burn of the alcohol.

"I'm not anti-Avengers, I'm just..."

"You're just not _pro_ Avengers, is that it?" he chuckled.

"I don't think anyone should act like the Earth's 'saviour'," she shook her head. "It's unrealistic."

"I agree. It's not like they're saving anyone," he shrugged.

"But they _do._ I mean, I saw them in New York. When all that shit came out of the sky?"

"The shit they _brought_ here,"

"They didn't bring it here," Riley argued, shaking her head once again. "And a lot more people could have died if they didn't show up,"

The man stared at her then, confused.

"Wait, so you're pro or con Avengers now?" he wondered.

Riley just laughed, letting out a long sigh as she once again brought the glass to her lips.

"Told you I haven't drank enough to answer that,"

* * *

The sun had well and truly set by the time Steve stepped out of the house, noticing Tony leaning down against the wooden railing around the porch. They had spent the last few hours discussing their next plan of attack with Fury, eating dinner surrounded by Clint's welcoming family. It felt oddly normal to be sitting at a large table, arms reaching over one another, passing around warm dishes of home-cooked food.

It was surprisingly pleasant to have Fury back in the team as well, even though he had been just as overwhelmed with their next step. The intel he did have for them helped form their current plan, which resulted in Tony planning to head to Nexus in Oslo and Steve taking the rest of the team to Seoul. Ultron was planning to form a new body - an enhanced human body - to possess.

But they were still missing one person.

"She couldn't have gone far," Steve spoke quietly, folding his arms as he moved to stand beside Tony, looking out at the bright moon.

"Clint said there's a bar in a town about forty minutes from here," he explained, turning to Steve with a shrug. "Where do you think she is?"

With a long sigh, Steve lifted a hand to rub at his temples. Riley had been very clear about her relationship with alcohol and how it calmed her and Steve was sure that after the day she had, any kind of liquor would do.

"It's been over four hours," he countered.

"You really haven't experienced any kind of buzz before, have you?" Tony asked, rolling his eyes.

"You think she's been drinking for four hours, do you?" Steve bit back. "Four hours?"

"It's not hard," Tony shrugged. "Especially for an alcoholic. Trust me on that."

"No, she's not an alcoholic," Steve shook his head. "She's just..."

"An alcoholic," Tony nodded, summing it up. "And you know what? I'd be the same if I were her. Sometimes you have to have no control over yourself to _actually_ have some control. To numb things, to...to just stop thinking about it all. I might not be able to move crap with my mind or cause an earthquake, but I know that."

Steve watched him carefully. Tony never really spoke openly about his own past struggles, at least not in depth, and never to Steve. He told the team what they needed to know when the moment called for it, but otherwise Tony kept his past in his past. But Steve didn't need Tony to tell him what he used to be like, because the billionaire's life had been all over the media and on every platform.

So when Tony explained to Steve why Riley turned to a bar to deal with all of this, he didn't argue.

"I should go find her,"

"You're not exactly her favourite person," Tony shook his head.

"Well, she doesn't really _have_ a favourite person,"

"She needs time to cool off," Tony insisted.

"We're heading to Seoul before the sun comes up," Steve reminded. "She'll want to be ready. If Ultron's going after Dr. Cho, he'll have the Maximoff's with him."

They both remained in silence after that, knowing Steve was right. Riley wanted to jump right back into chasing down Ultron, and now they had their lead, and she wasn't here. There was no way they could leave without her, but if she didn't come back, they couldn't afford to wait.

* * *

It was colder than she had expected outside, the chill hitting against her neck and causing a shiver. Her navy jacket had been zipped up all evening, hiding her bandaged shoulder and when Riley stepped out onto the dimly lit sidewalk she reached down into the pocket and pulled out a half-empty pack of cigarettes. The barman - Matt, as she had discovered - was finishing packing all the stools onto tables and wiping down the countertop for the final time that evening.

Riley's hideaway was closing, and right now she didn't know where she wanted to go. There was still the lingering possibility that she wouldn't even be welcome back at the Barton's, not after her dramatic departure, and she began looking around the empty street for any signs of life. This tiny town was a complete opposite to New York, and Riley found herself missing the endless bars and busy pavements.

She missed feeling invisible, melding into crowds, passing each day just like any other.

Leaning back against the cold brick wall, Riley lifted a cigarette to her lips and lit it quickly, shoving her hand back into the pocket for warmth. It was too quiet in this town, but the one thing she did appreciate were the stars up in the sky. She could see them all so clearly now with no buildings around to cloud her view, and she was mesmerised.

"So this is what you've been doing," a voice called from the side. "Staring up at the sky?"

Riley's head whipped to the side at the sound of Tony's voice, her eyes glowing orange and her body tensing. He was wearing a jacket over his plaid shirt, the hood pulled up over his head, but once Riley saw the familiar goatee she began to feel her adrenaline spike wash away.

"You can cool it with the evil eyes," he sighed, hands sliding down into his pockets as he slowed his pace, standing to stare back at her.

Riley watched him closely, feeling her eyes fade from their orange hue.

"They're closed," she told him softly, gesturing to the bar behind them. "And you wouldn't even like their top shelf stuff."

"Pity," he smirked. "Looks like you didn't mind it, did you?"

"I don't drink top shelf," Riley shrugged, taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Shocking,"

With a small glare, Riley blew out a puff of smoke toward the man and watched as he frowned in response.

"You look homeless," she chuckled.

"And you look like you can barely walk,"

"I'm tired," she argued.

"You smell like scotch,"

"Not really a fan of scotch," she shrugged. "But it all works the same in the end, doesn't it?"

Tony stared back at her, folding his arms and leaning up against the wall beside her. Tony was right to hold Steve back from coming here, he couldn't image what sort of scene another argument would create, especially in this small town street. Riley didn't need a lecture or a guilt trip. Even if that wasn't Steve's intention, that's how it would come across right now.

But Tony had a feeling he knew Riley better than either of them would care to believe. He could see parts of himself in the way she acted and the things she said. Tony could do this back and forth with her all night if that's what it took.

"I wasn't aware I had a curfew," she muttered, flicking some of the ash from her cigarette onto the pavement.

"I'm not here to drag you back," Tony shrugged.

"Good, because I don't need to be dragged back," she snapped. "I'm not running, if that's what you were assuming."

"Not running, huh? So what do you call that exit you made earlier?"

After one final drag, Riley took the cigarette from her lips and threw the butt onto the ground, crushing it beneath her boots. Tony watched as she shook her head, folding her arms and leaning back further against the cold brick wall.

"You have no idea what it's like," she warned.

"What? To run from stuff?" he countered.

"To have _no control_ over yourself," she explained, looking to him now. "I can't even be in someone's house for ten minutes without fucking something up,"

"You dropped a plate," Tony sighed, frowning. "You didn't tear the place apart-"

"But I almost did," she cut him off. "A few seconds longer and the roof could have fell in. I could hear everything in that house shaking and I could feel my body surging, and I couldn't stop it. So yeah, I ran off. Seems to be the safest option."

Tony watched her look back down at her boots, moving her shoulder slightly and wincing as her stitches pulled. He could see how tense she was, noticing her foot tapping wildly against the pavement. It was like her body refused to stay still for even a moment.

"Ever think you have trouble controlling it because you never really let it out?" he asked genuinely.

Riley shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly at his words.

"And what would happen then, huh? Do you actually know how many enhanced freaks like me are out there? We all know what happens to people like us. We know there's a place for us, built to keep us in and never let us out. We'd become the government's lab rats," she explained, her voice full of anger and frustration. "Not everyone can parade around like your team does. At the end of the day, you can take your suit off, can't you?"

Tony stared back at her, listening to every word and learning very quickly why Riley wanted to live in the shadows. He could feel guilt rising in his stomach at the fact he had been the one to hunt her down in the first place and find her at that bar.

"None of us want you handed over to a government lab," Tony assured. "We're not going to ship you off there when this is all over."

"You speak for everyone, do you?" she challenged.

"Is that what you're afraid of? That we're going to put you in a cell?" Tony countered.

"I'm not afraid of you or the others," she clarified. "But ever since Strucker, there's only two ways my life is going to go now. I either get locked away somewhere or I die. I know that normal life isn't an option. How can it be?"

Tony looked down at his own feet, noticing the pavement beginning to tremble and crack beneath them. Riley took a deep breath and shook her head, willing her body to calm down.

"Look at everything that's happened the past few years," Tony began, trying to refocus her attention. "There is no _normal_ life anymore, not for anyone. If that's your goal, you're never going to reach it. You're stuck on the idea of not having these powers, but they're in you and they're not going anywhere."

"Your pep talks are just amazing," Riley sighed, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the pack of cigarettes.

"And you're kind of an asshole, by the way, if you haven't noticed," he continued. "So you don't really give the team a chance to trust you. You had our backs out there and we've got yours, that was the deal. You need to trust us too."

Riley lit her cigarette and looked back out at the empty street, trying to ignore the reality of Tony's words.

"I don't want any of this," she shook her head. "I don't want these powers, I don't want this fight, I don't want to be up against the only two people in this world who know what happened in that lab. I just want everything to stop, I don't want to think about any of it."

Tony watched her slide the cigarette between her lips again, taking a long drag and resting her head back against the bricks.

"Is that why you can't seem to go a day without a drink?" Tony asked, nodding toward the bar behind her. "Helps you stop thinking about it all, huh?"

Flashing him a small glare, Riley breathed out a grey cloud of smoke before she bit back.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice tired and pleading. "I gave you all fair warning that I don't do well in teams and that I'm _not_ campaigning to be a fucking superhero!"

"We're not asking you to be a superhero," Tony defended. "We're asking you to cooperate with us. We all want the same thing-"

"I'm not cut out for this shit," she shook her head. "I don't know how to cooperate,"

"You cooperate just fine when you stop overthinking," he shrugged. "In Sokovia, you helped us get through Strucker's defence and yesterday you helped us fight off Ultron's minions. You weren't thinking about losing control, you were _in_ control."

Riley scoffed, shaking her head.

"I wasn't in control, I was pissed off," she corrected.

"Whatever works," he offered. "We all have things that drive us through the fight, believe me."

There was a moment of silence between them as Riley continued to smoke her cigarette down to the butt, tossing it down beside the other and crushing it once again. The lights in the bar behind them flicked off as Matt finally locked up, leaving them in the darkness of the deserted street.

Riley looked back at Tony, her arms still folded across her chest.

"How did you get here?" she asked, looking around.

"One of Barton's old pick-ups," Tony shrugged with a small smirk. "It's not much for speed but people don't look twice at it,"

"And it goes with your outfit I bet," she smirked back.

Tony felt a small smile pull at his lips.

"Come on," he gestured, turning for Riley to follow. "Wheels up in a few hours,"

"Wheels up?"

"I'll fill you in on the way back," Tony nodded, looking back at her. "If you're still up for it."

Riley watched him as he continued to walk along the street, thinking about everything that had been running through her mind all evening. But after a few moments of quiet panic, Riley's feet began following behind Tony, keeping her distance.

* * *

 _Hey guys! Thanks for continuing to follow this story. I hope you're enjoying!_

 _Please leave a review with any thoughts. I will be attaching a photo of my character 'Riley' just for you guys to put a face to the name and envision her as I do._

 _Thanks xx_


	11. Chapter 11

The radio in the old pick-up truck crackled as they drove out of the small town. Squealing static was the only sound between Riley and Tony who had stayed silent ever since the less-than-reliable motor rattled to life. In that moment, Riley felt like a young teenager being driven back home from a party she shouldn't have been to. Despite the amount she had drank throughout the evening, her body still felt tense, even as her buzz kept her feeling rather light-headed as they passed street lights that eventually faded out into a dark, lonely road.

Tony's hand reached down and switched off the radio, letting out a small sigh as he looked back at the road and mindlessly scratched his beard. Riley looked over to him and noticed the dark circles forming under his eyes, knowing that the rest of the team would be looking just the same despite their day of rest.

"Ever think about going back to NYU?" Tony asked, his voice soft and curious.

Riley was taken aback for a moment, looking out to the road ahead.

"Uh, not really," she shrugged, clearing her throat.

"You were majoring in mathematics and analytics, right?" he continued. "Why those?"

Shrugging her shoulders once again, Riley watched their dull driving lights illuminate a few metres of the road, seeing absolutely nothing ahead. There was nothing to be seen around them either, as if they were driving into a black hole. Clint certainly made sure his home was isolated, and Riley wondered if she would have been able to get back on her own after all.

"I like numbers," she admit. "They make sense to me."

"You don't take me as a numbers person. Actually, you don't take me as a _college_ person," Tony told her with a small smirk.

"Well I wasn't always such an asshole like you say," Riley bit back, her words lacking any real heat. "And I'm not a college person. Not anymore."

"You could always go back," he offered.

"I'm sure that would end well," she scoffed, shaking her head at the idea.

"I'm just saying," Tony shrugged. "You don't have to spend your days working behind a bar until sunrise-"

"Let's just make it through all of this first, and then we can analyse my shitty life, okay?" she countered. "I might not even have one when this is done."

"What? A life?"

Riley looked to him, watching his furrowed brows.

"Wanda showed you something too, didn't she?"

Tony's eyes flickered over to her for a moment, turning back to the road soon after and adjusting his grip on the wheel.

"Nothing I didn't already see coming," he sighed, his voice barely a whisper.

"That's usually how it goes," she nodded.

"What'd she show you?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't actually get an answer.

If there was something Riley and the team all had a in common, it was the fact that whatever Wanda had forced them to experience was too painful and raw to actually talk about.

 _Death. It's coming._

"Nothing I didn't see coming."

"You were right, y'know? We weren't prepared for them."

"You weren't prepared for _Wanda_ ," she corrected. "Pietro might have his speed, but he can't hurt people like she can. That's why Ultron went for her."

There was a beat of silence as Tony entered the intersection, turning onto yet another dark and lonely road. Riley wondered how Tony knew where he was going, but he looked confident in their direction as they began to pick up speed once again.

"So where are we going?" she finally asked.

"Well, _you're_ going to Seoul," Tony began, rubbing at his tired eyes. "You, Cap, Widow and Barton. Checking up on Dr. Cho. She's got this...it's called a regeneration cradle. It can create tissue and basically build a body."

Riley looked over to him, eyes wide.

"What the fuck? Why?"

"It's for healing purposes. It's really changing the game in the medical world," Tony explained. "But our bet is that's what Ultron's after."

"To become a human?"

"To have a human form," Tony nodded. "To evolve."

Riley turned her gaze back out at the rod, shaking her head in disbelief.

"How fucked up can this all get?" she groaned, running her fingers over her temples. "Wait, where are you going? And Banner?"

"I'm going to NEXUS to try and draw him out," he huffed. "Banner's heading back to the tower,"

"How are we all going three separate ways with _one_ aircraft?"

Tony looked over to her nervously, preparing himself. Riley had made it very clear that she was not a fan of the government or their organisations, especially ones that specialise in dealing with people just like her.

"You wouldn't happen to know of a charming man named Nick Fury, would you?"

* * *

Steve was standing on the front porch when Clint's old pick-up truck made it's way along the long driveway and into the garage. Tony had been gone for close to three hours, and Steve was beginning to reconsider going out to bring them both back when he spotted the headlights approaching.

The rest of the team were in bed, trying to get some rest before their next journey. Not that any of them were getting any shut-eye tonight with Wanda's visions still lingering in their minds, but it was worth trying.

"So, what am I expecting?" Fury asked, leaning against the railing beside Steve. "If I can handle Stark's attitude-"

"She gives Stark a run for his money," Steve shook his head. "And you never really know what attitude you're going to get."

"I'm surprised you brought her along," Fury chuckled lightly. "One argumentative teammate seems enough,"

"She's not part of the team, really. She makes that very clear," he sighed. "Riley's in this to bring down Ultron, after that...who knows?"

"Can you see her living out there after all this? Considering how you found her?" Fury wondered.

Steve thought to himself, shaking his head. He really couldn't see what Riley would be doing after all this. She had no job to return to, no apartment, no life, thanks to their own actions.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, folding his arms as he heard the doors of the pick-up slam closed.

Tony was the first to approach, leading the way for Riley who staggered along behind him. She had her hands buried deep in her jacket pockets, her hair all pulled to one side as she struggled to keep her eyes open. It was clear where she had spent all of her evening.

When Riley looked up from the dirt in front of her feet, she stared directly at Steve. It wasn't a look of anger or frustration this time, but just one of exhaustion. Her eyes were dark with lack of sleep and her skin was paler than ever as if she was about to be sick, but she held back all of those urges to throw herself down somewhere and wait for daylight. Instead she glanced over at Fury, her jaw clenching at the sight of the man.

"Let's just remember there are people inside sleeping," Tony began, looking between Riley and the two men on the porch. "And kids, and a family we already kinda barged in on, okay?"

"There's no need for an argument," Steve insisted, shaking his head. "We just want to talk about tomorrow-"

"I know the plan," Riley sighed, rubbing her eyes. "On the jet before dawn, off to Seoul to stop a batshit insane robot from making a human body, got it."

"Seems she's up to speed Cap," Fury smirked. "So, you're the other survivor. Made from the powers of the Tesseract in Strucker's lab,"

Riley glared at the man, biting on her bottom lip.

"Seems that way,"

"Most people come looking for SHIELD when they get back from an underground experimentation gone wrong," Fury continued.

"Didn't really go wrong, did it?" she bit back. "Is there a reason you crawled out of your hideaway to come here and try to piss me off?"

"I like to know who we're working with," he shrugged, his voice less than intimidated by her angry voice.

"You're not working with me," Riley shook her head. "So I think we can cut the bullshit, don't you?"

Tony let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Alright, seems like a conversation for another day, huh?" he offered, looking to Fury. "No need to stir up more trouble, we've got plenty to go around."

Tony had assured Riley that Fury wasn't here for her. He wasn't here to take her in or throw her into a cell like the ones she had been talking about. Fury was here to help his team, even if SHIELD was non-existent now and the Avengers weren't exactly under his control. Whenever the world was under threat, again, the Avengers always took his word.

But Riley had far less respect for the man and the organisation he used to lead, and she made no effort in hiding that.

Letting out a huff of annoyance, Riley stepped away from Tony's side and reached back into her pocket to pull out her almost-empty pack of cigarettes. Slipping one between her lips, she slowly disappeared from their view as she walked down toward the jet. All they could see of her now was the glowing orange tip of her cigarette, mimicking her own eyes.

Looking back to the other two, Tony shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Couldn't just cut the shit for one night?" he groaned, aiming toward Fury. "I know you couldn't live without your speeches Fury, but maybe back off this one?"

Fury eyed the man, folding his arms.

"A short temper doesn't bode well for battle, Stark," he defended.

"Well that rules out the whole team, doesn't it?" Tony countered. "Personalities are kind of off the table right now."

"You have a hostile tagalong. More hostile than anyone else you've got here," Fury began, looking between both Tony and Steve. "You need to contain her before walking into a fight."

"She's contained," Tony shrugged. "She's here, ready to go, willing to fight."

"That's far from the point,"

"Look, we could all use some rest," Steve cut in, hands on his hips, a tired sigh escaping his lips. "We've only got a few hours until we're on the move."

Tony looked over at him, eyes glancing at Fury for a moment before he gave a nod of agreement. He really wasn't in the mood to engage in an argument, especially since he was sure there would be plenty of that over the next 24 hours anyway.

"Yeah, rest," Tony shook his head. "Enjoy the haystack."

* * *

When the jet took to the sky in the early hours of the morning, just as the sun was rising, Riley clutched at the large bottle of water in her hands and willed herself to keep it together as they adjusted to a smooth speed. She had spent the night slumped against the back of the jet, covered by her jacket, desperately trying to get a few hours of sleep. Coupled with her emerging hangover and continual frustration, Riley was far from the perfect teammate.

Steve, Natasha and Clint were all suited up and ready to walk into another battle, looking rested even if they did only get two or three hours of actual sleep. Then again, they hadn't spent the entire evening at a bar like Riley had.

"Feeling okay?" Steve asked, wandering over to where she sat in Bruce's usual nook by the window.

Natasha and Clint had taken the helm of the jet, calculating routes and coordinates while Steve and Riley settled in for the journey.

"Never better," Riley groaned, taking another long gulp of water.

She was currently laying back against the cool wall, her jacket rolled up behind her head as a makeshift pillow. Steve stood by her side, arms folded as he surveyed her carefully. Her eyes were dark, her skin paler than usual and she had beads of sweat forming over her forehead. A mixture of hangover and withdrawal. Just what he needed on this mission.

As Steve continued to watch her, his eyes moved down to glance over her shoulder. No longer covered by the gauze patch and bandages Steve had applied the day before, her skin was completely clear. Steve's eyes narrowed, searching for a sign of the bullet wound.

"That's..." he trailed off, lifting his hand slightly to gesture to her shoulder.

Riley saw his baffled expression and looked down at her shoulder, realising what he was referring to. It had been a long time since someone had actually questioned her healing, she almost forgot it wasn't normal.

"Quick recovery," she shrugged, looking back up at him. "Good as new, right?"

Steve continued staring at the smooth skin, unable to comprehend how there was a bullet lodged inside a day before.

"You heal fast," he breathed out, surprised. "There isn't even a scar."

"Skin pulls itself back together," she added. "Can't get any new scars."

Steve couldn't help staring at the skin for a while longer, amazed that there was absolutely no sign of any wound ever being there. But he knew it was. He remembered pulling the bullet out, pressing against it to stop the blood running like a tap, bandaging it up in hopes it wouldn't bleed through.

"I guess my stitching was pretty useless then," he shook his head, giving her a small smile.

Riley watched him carefully in return, shrugging.

"Healed a lot quicker after being stitched up," she offered. "Always do. Even if my medic was pretty brutal,"

Steve let out a small chuckle, shaking his head.

"Well, the patient could have been a little more cooperative,"

Riley scoffed, smirking.

"So I've been told."

Steve stepped over to the long bench by the window, just to the side of Riley, and took a seat. Riley watched him as he let out a long sigh, rubbing his forehead with one hand before leaning down against his knees. It was only now that Riley realised how worn out the Captain looked.

Riley wondered if each mission the Avengers went on took such a mental toll on them all, but she knew this one hit them particularly hard. Each mission brought new lows, new reasons for the world to hate them and for the bad guys to hit back, but Wanda had taken them all apart this time. She had shown them their deepest fears and insecurities at a time when they couldn't afford the distraction, and they were still dealing with the consequences.

"There's a big chance the Maximoff's will be there," Steve informed, looking up at her.

"Figured they would be," Riley shrugged, folding her leg over the other as she stretched out.

"Are you ready for that?" he asked, cautiously.

Riley looked back at him, unflinching at the possibility of once again meeting the twins.

"Are you?" she countered.

"We can't afford another hit," he shook his head, looking over to Natasha and Clint. "We've taken enough. If Wanda gets in our heads-"

"She won't get in mine," Riley assured, her eyes beginning to glow. "Not again."

"You sound sure of that,"

"I am," she shrugged. "I let her get to me last time, I thought she was still sane enough to reason with. But I guess Ultron's crazy must have spread to her as well."

Steve thought for a moment, shaking his head slightly and once again running his hand over his forehead, trying to wake himself some more.

"She's just a kid," he sighed. "You all are."

Riley scoffed.

"We're not kids," she denied. "That shit stopped a long time ago. We might have been when we were taken into that lab, but we weren't when we came out. If that's how you see us, you need to stop. Strucker made us into weapons, and maybe I'm an asshole and they seem naive and corrupted, but in the end that's what we are. Weapons."

"Reluctant weapons," Steve added.

"Not them," she shook her head. "They knew what they were signing up for. Everything they are is what they asked for."

Steve watched her carefully.

"That bothers you, doesn't it? They got what they asked for and you didn't."

Riley rolled her eyes.

"I'm a lot of things, but a spoiled brat isn't one of them," she warned. "I just don't feel sorry for them."

"They wanted to protect their people," Steve continued. "They wanted to fight for their-"

"They wanted to fight _you_ ," Riley snapped. "You and the Avengers and anyone else who took it upon themselves to be superheroes and ignore all the little people."

Steve's jaw clenched as he stared back at her, growing defensive.

"That's not-"

"I'm telling you why they did this, okay? I'm not attacking you," she explained with a groan. "Look, they've had a shitty life, I know. But they sat there in those cells and watched me scream for it all to stop, and they didn't even blink. They just waited their turn to be stabbed by needle after needle. And after all of that, they consider it betrayal that I don't want any part of it. I don't hate them, I don't...I couldn't _hate_ them. But they wanted this, and nothing's going to change that."

Steve didn't attempt to argue against that. Riley was talking about something Steve had no right pretending to understand. He cooperated in his own experiment, he willingly had that serum injected into his body, and everything that happened after that was a consequence of his own choice.

But Riley wasn't a willing participant, and Strucker was a cruel man.

"We work as a team from here on, okay?" Steve offered a moment later.

"I thought we had been," she looked to him. "I've been playing nicely."

"You can't run off on us," Steve explained.

Riley glared at him, holding back the urge to roll her eyes. She knew he was right, and she had been sitting with guilt ever since she had returned, but Riley was never going to be comfortable with being told what to do. Even when she agreed. Maybe it was the need to rebel against authority. Maybe she was just a kid after all, at least part of her.

"Not really used to having people who want me to come back," she sighed.

"Well we do," Steve assured. "And more than that, we _need_ you to come back. We can take on a lot of bad guys, even ones from other worlds, but this...we could use your help."

Riley stared back at him, giving a small nod of understanding.

"You've got it," she shrugged. "I'm here, aren't I?"


	12. Chapter 12

Riley had been trying to sleep for over an hour now. Her body was exhausted, her eyes were heavy, and yet her mind fought the idea completely. Every time she closed her eyes she had a vision of her mother, the same vision she had been having since Wanda got into her head. It was reminding her of what she was about to head into, what she would be once again up against. But Riley wasn't going to show Wanda any sort of mercy or doubt this time.

There was no way in Hell she was getting back into Riley's head.

"Hey, you doing okay?" Steve asked, his voice jolting Riley's stiff position against the window.

Hey eyes flew open at his words, looking to him with a shrug.

"On top of the world," she answered.

"You've been tapping your foot for twenty minutes," he explained, looking to where her boot was currently knocking continuously against the metal utility box beneath.

Riley hadn't even noticed the sound or the movement, but she could hear the collective sigh from all three on board when she finally ceased.

"Oops," she mumbled quietly, crossing her legs beneath her and stretching out her back with a small wince.

There hadn't been much chatter among the team during their journey, and Riley didn't know if it was because tension was so high thanks to Wanda messing with them all or because Riley had actually made them worry about her involvement in their plans. She wasn't exactly stable or predictable at the moment, and they did have every right to be cautious.

Riley reached down to the almost-empty water bottle and took a few more gulps, wishing the clear liquid was something a lot stronger.

"Nervous?" Steve asked.

"No," she replied immediately, finishing off the water. "I'd kill for a drink, though."

Natasha smirked as she looked over, taking a bite of the apple in her hand while she stretched her legs. Clint's eyes were trained onto the display ahead of them, calculating coordinates and their ETA, but she could see the mirrored smirk on his face too. They didn't seem frightened of her, or threatened in anyway, and Riley found herself somewhat grateful for that.

They hadn't explained much about their plan, in fact they didn't really have one prepared. Their main concern was Dr. Cho, not only her safety but her ability to give Ultron exactly what he wanted. A body, to make him an android, to make him that much more difficult to stop.

"Are you?" Riley asked after a moment, noticing Steve's quiet and blank stare down at the floor.

The soldier's head lifted at Riley's question, looking to her with a small shake of his head.

"Not nervous. Frustrated."

"Well, I can definitely relate to that," she sighed, leaning back against the wall and propping her feet up in front of her.

There was silence between them for a few minutes before Natasha and Clint began chatting quietly among themselves. Riley caught a few words about Clint's house and talk of his kids before she tuned it out, opting instead to look out of the small window by her side. The sun was rising, but it was only just peaking out over the clouds that spread out around them.

It was beautiful and calm and Riley wished she could wake up to the sight every day.

"What are you going to do after all of this?" Steve asked, deciding to keep some conversation going.

Not only did he want to actually understand Riley more, but he had had enough of sitting there with his thoughts. What Wanda had showed him, what she had reminded him of, had been playing out over and over again in his mind. The life he could have had, the life he and Peggy could have had together. He couldn't fixate on it any longer, and the idea of facing Wanda again seemed to be having more of an impact than he would have liked.

"After we stop the lunatic robot and his sidekicks?" Riley asked, turning to him with an amused shake of her head. "It's hard to think past that, actually."

"We'll stop him," Steve assured.

"Yeah, well at the moment it seems like a pipe-dream at best," she sighed. "Not to be pessimistic."

Steve shook his head, folding his arms as he leaned back against the wall opposite her.

"Did you always have such a positive outlook on everything?"

"It's a realistic outlook," she corrected. "And believe it or not, I wasn't always a total asshole."

"You're not a total asshole now," Steve offered.

"But I'm pretty close, right?" she laughed, shaking her head. "Maybe that's what I'll work on when this is all over. But don't hold me to that."

"Being more or less of an asshole?" Clint asked from the front, breaking into the conversation.

Riley smirked, glancing over at the two spies peering back at her.

"Still deciding."

* * *

Steve was standing by the back of the jet, putting his earpiece in place and tugging on his cowl. Riley saw the man go from zero to a hundred in seconds of Natasha announcing they were two minutes from the drop zone.

Riley didn't exactly look as professional as she 'suited up'. Unlike Steve, Riley only had to pull on her navy leather jacket, still covered in blood on the inside and still smelling like the whiskey she drowned herself in the night before, and she was ready to go.

"We have to stay low, stay discreet," Steve instructed as Riley moved to stand by his side.

"Discreet? Is that what the costume's for?" she mumbled, folding her arms.

Steve gave her a small glare with a sigh, but otherwise ignored her jab.

"Stay close, we'll be moving fast," he added. "Just keep up."

"Can you keep up with _me_?" she joked.

"I'm serious,"

"So am I."

"Can you kids cut it with the jabs?" Natasha called back. "You've got thirty seconds to drop,"

They were approaching a roof, one that looked directly out at the building they needed to be at. They were hoping Ultron would be unsuspecting of their presence if he was in fact there, but Riley had a feeling he knew they were coming. They all had that feeling.

Dread.

The door began to fall open on the back of the jet, slowly revealing the drop they would be making. It wasn't too high, but Riley wondered how Steve would manage to land without injuring himself. It was hard to remember this man was not just a soldier, but a super soldier. The world's first and only.

"Alright," Steve began. "Drop in 3, 2, -"

Riley fell into the breeze, falling down onto the roof with an echoing shake throughout the concrete. Her hands were resting by her feet, sending trembles out around her before Steve landed by her side, rolling forward to steady himself. They both remained low and crouched for a moment, scoping their surroundings before they began running. Riley followed behind Steve, wondering how they were meant to make it to that building on these rooftops.

But once Riley saw Steve moving, she realised she had once again managed to forget what he was capable of. The man leapt over the long drops between buildings, hurrying over rooftops and down into alleys to race along the backstreets. Riley stayed closed, following Steve's orders and keeping an eye on every turn and jump he took. They gathered a few looks from the people they passed, but no one stared for too long. They didn't give them time to.

Riley moved every obstacle in their path, flying crates and metal sheets out of their way to clear their route. She was unsure how close they were to the building, but she was trusting Steve to figure that one out. For now, she would just focus on getting through the streets.

"We're a minute out," Steve called back to her. "We'll get through each floor quickly, Cho is on the top-"

"I can get us up there quicker," Riley insisted.

Steve stayed quiet for a moment as they continued their hurried pace, but soon enough he turned slightly to address her once more.

"You sure?"

"As long as you can hang on," she shrugged. "Just tell me when and where,"

They continued running, their speed increasing as they reached an open road. With no cover from buildings, they needed to move as fast as possible to avoid being noticed. When they neared the building, Steve glanced back at Riley and gave a nod that she understood without explanation. Riley moved in front of him, looking up to the clearing they needed to land on, and crouched down to project all of her force into the ground beneath her. With eyes glowing orange and tremors quickly setting in, Riley looked back to Steve and watched his arm reach out to her, wrapping carefully around her waist and securing himself as they launched into the air.

Steve could feel Riley's body shaking, full of so much energy, as they soared up through the air and landed far from gracefully on the floor just outside Cho's main surgery. Steve gathered himself up quickly, rushing inside as he listened for Riley's footsteps following behind.

As soon as Riley walked in through the sliding doors, she could tell Ultron had already stopped by. A few bodies lay around the room, unconscious and injured, in his wake. She could see Steve running ahead of her, his eyes fixed on a limp body in the corner.

"Dr. Cho!" he called, rushing over to the panting woman.

She was bleeding over her chest, her body covered in a sheen of sweat, and her skin growing paler by the second. Her shoulder looked badly injured, and there was blood all over her face. Steve crouched at her side, assessing her injuries, but the woman seemed less concerned for herself at the moment.

"He's uploading himself into the body," she told him, her voice hurried and breathless.

That was nothing they weren't already expecting.

"Where?" Steve asked, eyes wide.

The woman shook her head, unable to even give the answer. She looked confused, dazed, and that's when Riley realised Wanda had gotten to her. Steve's eyes darted around the room, looking to see if the A.I or either of the twins were still here. But Riley was ahead of him, scoping out the rooms attached and searching for any indications.

"The real power is inside the cradle," Dr. Cho explained, refocusing Steve's attention. "The gem...the power inside is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You _have_ to get the cradle to Stark,"

The desperation in her voice had Riley concerned. Dr. Cho created the cradle, she knew it's power, and now she was fearful of it. All because it was now in the hands of Ultron. Steve stared back at her, giving a small and unsure nod.

"First, I have to find it."

Cho nodded, looking to Riley.

"Go!"

Steve was up in an instant, pushing Cho's hand toward her shoulder to maintain pressure. The bleeding didn't seem too bad, and medics were already on their way through the building. Riley glanced at the woman as Steve marched toward her to figure out their next move, wondering if Cho looked so bad simply because of Wanda instead of her actual physical injuries.

Wanda had made her do something she didn't want to, something she couldn't control, and it was killing her. Not only did Dr. Cho have broken bones and gashes to attend to, but now she had an immeasurable amount of guilt on her shoulders.

"You guys copy that?" Steve asked, finger pressed to his ear as he spoke to Barton and Romanoff in the jet flying above.

"Yes, we did," Barton assured.

Riley followed Steve out of the building, jumping from ledge to ledge until they made it to the ground. Her eyes were scanning every area around them for the psychotic robot or his two sidekicks, but they were long gone. They knew they were being hunted, and they weren't taking any chances.

"Got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest," Natasha offered. "That could be him."

Barton's eyes scanned the streets, watching Steve and Riley rushing into the traffic beneath the highway, making their way to higher ground.

"There," he called out. "Truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It's them. Three with the cradle, one in the cab. I can take out the driver."

"Negative!" Steve ordered. "If that truck crashed, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron."

They were running on a road just above the truck now, a road the truck was about to drive under, giving them their perfect opportunity. Riley's heart was beating wildly with adrenaline and she knew her eyes would be bright orange when she met Steve's gaze, but she just gave him a nod of assurance.

"I'm with you," she told him.

Steve gave a nod in return, looking over the edge to see the truck approaching before he hurried to the other side, leaping off. Riley following close behind, making sure to land on the roof of the truck just in front of Steve.

Riley felt her hands surging through the vehicle, sending small tremors that she desperately tried to control. Ultron would know it was her, he had to know she would be coming for him. Steve made his way to the back of the truck, climbing down to the back doors and clinging to the bolted locks. But before he had a chance to attempt opening them, Ultron sent a blast outward and sent him flying to the side, desperately gripping the edge of the large metal door.

Riley threw her hand out to him, steadying his body from where she stood and moving the door back to it's original position. But Ultron didn't let up, and soon Steve's body was being thrown up into the air as the back doors were completely blasted off. Steve could see Riley's glowing eyes as she stood on the roof of the vehicle, both arms up toward him as she took over and made sure he didn't hit the ground

It was such an odd sensation. Steve's whole body was in Riley's control, and although he was suspended in the air, he wasn't falling, Riley made sure of that. But Ultron caught on fast. A blast came up through the roof next, knocking Riley's knees to the metal beneath her and breaking her hold on Steve. He fell down to the door hanging off the back of the truck, scraping along the road.

Riley steadied herself, standing back up as she watched Steve cling to the back of the door, but a moment later his body was flung back into the car following behind them, smashing into the windscreen with a pained gasp. Riley reached down and put her hand through the hole that had formed from the blast beneath her feet, gritting her teeth as she peeled back the thick metal roof and revealed Ultron's less-than-happy robotic face.

"Have I mentioned what a waste you're becoming?" he shook his head.

Riley growled down toward him as she dropped through the newly formed opening, standing between the deranged A.I and the cradle containing his new body and the gem that could easily wipe out the city.

"Looking for an upgrade?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the metal man.

"We all need to evolve," he answered. "You seem to be slowly learning that yourself."

"I haven't evolved to full lunatic yet, but believe me, you're pushing it," she bit back.

Ultron watched her carefully, feeling her shake the vehicle with her tremors. She grinned back at him, reaching her hand out in front of her to project the waves of energy down into the cradle, disrupting the upload and all of it's progress. It wasn't enough to crack the cradle, to unleash the gem and it's dangers, but it was enough to piss Ultron off and buy them some more time before the A.I was completely uploaded.

"You're getting on my nerves," Ultron snapped, shooting a beam into Riley's chest.

She stumbled back, feeling blood trickle down her stomach as she looked down at her now-crimson shirt. But she felt no pain, not yet. Her adrenaline was spiking. Ultron sent another blast her way, but this time she countered it with her own, sending the robotic figure out of the vehicle in the same fashion as Steve.

Barton and Romanoff needed to get the cradle, and it was Steve and Riley's job to distract Ultron. But this was quickly becoming a chance for Riley to hurt the A.I, the tear him apart on her own without any sidekicks or team members to get in the way. She was still playing by the rules, she was still holding her end of the deal, but she was going to do this part on her own.

* * *

 _Thanks for continuing to read guys! Sorry for the long wait between updates. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please leave a review with any thoughts! x_


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